IC-NRLF 


SB    El 


Halifax  County: 

Economic  and  Social 


SIDNEY  B.  ALLEN 
R.  STANFORD  TRAVIS,  Jr. 

University  of  North  Carolina 
June,  1920 


The  Scotland  Neck  Bank 

Solicits  the  accounts  of 

Individuals,  Firms  and 
Corporations 

Gives  Efficient,  Courteous  and 
Prompt  Service 

Offers  Every  Consideration  Consistent 
With  Good  Banking 


Four  Per  Cent  Interest 

(Compounded  Quarterly) 

Paid  on  Deposits 


Capital          .          .         $25,000 
Earned  Surplus        .        $25,000 

A.  McDOWELL,  Chairman  of  the  Board 

G.  HOFFMAN,  President  J.  H.  ALEXANDER,  Jr.,  Cashier 

T.  B.  WHEELER,  V.  Pres.  HUGH  JOHNSON,  Asst .  Cashier 

Telephone  No.  25 


N.  A.  R1DDICK  MOTOR  CAR  COMPANY 

We  Are  Distributors  of 

CADILLAC  EIGHT,  BUICK  SIX, 
DODGE  FOUR 

AUTOMOBILES 

INTERNATIONAL 

3/4, 1,  li/2,  2,  3y2  TON  TRUCKS 

INTERNATIONAL 

8-16     10-20     15-20 
TRACTORS 

Philadelphia  Diamond  Grid  Batteries 

Guaranteed  Two  Years 
We  Carry  All  Sizes  in  Stock 

N.  A.  RIDDICK  MOTOR  CAR  COMPANY 

The  House  That  Service  Built 

SCOTLAND  NECK,  N.  C. 


BURROUGHS-PITTMAN 
WHEELER  CO. 

Everybody's  Store 

OUR  MOTTO 
Satisfaction  for  Everybody  in  Everything 

Telephone     -     23 

Dry  Goods,  Notions,  Shoes,  Clothing,  Tailor- 

Made  Suits  for  Ladies  and  Men,  Sole 

Agents  for  Harsisburg  and  Tilt's 

Shoes— Hardware,  Groceries, 

Fertilizers,  Furniture, 

Coffins 

Cotton  and  Peanut  Bayers 

Ladies'  and  Gentlemen's  Furnishings  and 

Millinery --- Complete  Supplies  for 

Farmers  and  Housekeepers, 

In  Short: 

Everything  for  Everybody 


HALIFAX  COUNTY: 

Economic  and  Social 


BY 


SIDNEY  B.  ALLEN  and 
R.  STANFORD  TRAVIS,  Jr. 


oA  Laboratory  Study  in  the  ''Rural  Social  Science 

department  of  the   University  of 

^Nrth   Carolina 


The  Expense  of  Publication  and  Distribution  is   Borne  by  the  Adver- 
tising and  Gifts  of  Wide-awake  and  Generous  Business  Men 
of  the  County.      We  Wish  to  Extend  to  Them  our 
Heartiest  Appreciation  and  Best  Wishes 


JUNE  1920 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS    5 

FOREWORD   7 

HISTORICAL    BACKGROUND    9 

NATURAL   RESOURCES    14 

INDUSTRIES   AND   OPPORTUNITIES   17 

FACTS  ABOUT  THE  FOLKS  26 

WEALTH  AND   TAXATION   30 

NINE-YEAR  GAINS  IN  KURAL  SCHOOLS  IN  HALIFAX,  1908-9  to  1917-18  35 

FARM  CONDITIONS  AND  PRACTICES  42 

HOME-RAISED  FOOD  AND  THE  LOCAL  MARKET  PROBLEM  51 

THING'S    TO    BE    PROUD    OF    IN    HALIFAX    61 

OUR  PROBLEMS  AND  THEIR  SOLUTION  ..  67 


• 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 


We  wish  to  extend  our  -thanks  to  the  business  men  of  the  county 
who  have  made  possible  the  publication  of  this  booklet  by  means  of 
their  advertisements.  We  wish  also  to  acknowledge  our  obligations 
to  the  following  for  their  generous  contributions  toward  the  expenses 
of  publication  and  distribution: 

The    Shaw    Cotton    Mills 

The    Weldon    Manufacturing    Co. 

The   Eoanoke   Mills 

The  Weldon  Grocery  Co. 

The  first  chapter  in  this  publication,  The  Historical  Background, 
is  the  work  of  Mr.  Donald  S.  Daniel,  of  Weldon,  a  member  of 
the  1920  class  at  the  University.  This  chapter  was  prepared  by  Mr. 
Daniel  during  the  1919  Summer  School  at  the  University,  being  a 
laboratory  study  in  the  Eural  Social  Science  Department. 

The  authors  are  greatly  indebted  to  Prof.  E.  C.  Branson,  head 
of  the  Eural  Social  Science  Department  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  for  his  invaluable  suggestions,  aid,  and  editorial  work,  and 
to  his  assistant,  Prof.  S.  H.  Hobbs,  Jr.,  who  has,  at  .every  step  in 
the  preparation  of  this  bulletin,  given  us  his  active  and  interested 
assistance.  We  here  render  them  our  grateful  thanks,  for  without 
their  guidance  in  the  use  of  state  and  county  studies  that  have  been 
accumulating  in  the  Eural  Social  Science  Department  during  the  last 
six  years,  this  bulletin  would  not  have  been  possible.* 

University  of  North  Carolina.          E.  STANFOED  TEA  VIS,  Jr. 
June  22,  1920.  SIDNEY  B.  ALLEN. 


MS 


FOREWORD 


E.  C.  BRANSON, 

Kenan   Professor   of   Eural   Social   Science,    University   of   North 

Carolina. 

The  rearward  look  in  Halifax  county  is  inspiring.  No  county  of 
North  Carolina  has  made  larger  contributions  to  the  state  and  nation. 
Halifax  history  is  tonic  and  quickening. 

But  the  round-about  and  the  forward  look  are  also  important.  What 
Halifax  is  today  and  what  she  may  be  tomorrow  concern  the  thoughtful 
people  of  the  county  quite  as  much  as  what  Halifax  was  day  before 
yesterday. 

Not  the  days  behind  but  the  days  at  hand  and  ahead  are  the 
burden  of  this  little  bulletin  on  Halifax  County:  Economic  and  So- 
cial. It  is  a  stock-taking  enterprise.  It  has  to  do  with  the  re- 
sources, advantages,  enterprises,  opportunities  and  possibilities  of  the 
home  county.  It  compares  Halifax  with  every  other  county  in  the  state 
in  more  than  300  particulars  of  life  and  business.  It  shows  where 
she  leads,  where  she  lags,  and  the  way  out — as  far  at  least  as  the 
best  thinking  of  three  Halifax  students  at  the  State  University  avails. 
The  work  on  this  bulletin  by  Messrs.  Allen,  Travis,  and  Daniel,  has 
been  done  at  odd  times  during  the  college  year,  not  for  marks  but  as  an 
expression  of  devoted  interest  in  their  mother  county. 

It  is  a  vital  culture  experience  in  their  student  lives.  It  has  been 
a  real  preparation  for  competent  citizenship  and  effective  public  service 
in  the  county  and  the  state.  What  they  have  gotten  out  of  these 
voluntary  studies  ought  graciously  to  dower  the  county.  And  it  will, 
if  only  the  teachers  use  their  bulletin  as  a  text  in  their  county  insti- 
tutes, if  the  high  school  students  use  it  in  their  senior  year,  if  the 
readers,  thinkers,  and  leaders  of  the  county  thumb  it  thoroughly  from 
cover  to  cover.  It  ought  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  farmers,  mer- 
chants, bankers,  manufacturers,  teachers,  and  preachers  alike.  It  car- 
ries food  for  serious  thought  for  them  all. 

I  may  add  that  these  studies  of  the  economic,  social  and  civic 
problems  of  the  counties  of  North  Carolina  make  a  unique  body  of 
literature.  There  is  nothing  like  them  in  any  other  state  of  the 
Union.  For  the  first  time  in  this  or  any  other  state,  the  people  of 
a  county  are  having  a  chance  to  study  their  own  work-a-day  problems, 
and  to  think  out  ways  and  means  to  lofty  ends  in  community  life. 


8  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

Six  such  bulletins  are  already  in  print  at  the  university.  Two 
others — Beaufort  and  Pitt — have  just  gone  to  the  printers.  The  other 
counties  can  have  bulletins  of  this  sort  just  as  soon  as  they  call  on 
their  boys  at  the  University  and  arrange  to  finance  the  publication  of 
their  efforts. 

Chapel  Hill,  N.   C. 
June   23,    1920. 


I 
HISTORICAL  BACKGROUND 


DONALD   S.   DANIEL, 
U.  N.  C.  Summer  School,  1919. 

In  1757  the  parish  of  Edgecombe  sent  a  petition  to  Governor  Arthur 
Dobbs,  then  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  asking  that  a  new  county 
be  formed.  The  following  year  the  Colonial  Assembly  granted  the  pe- 
tition and  the  new  county  was  named  Halifax,  in  honor  of  Charles 
Montague,  Earl  of  Halifax,  then  President  of  the  British  Board  of 
Trade,  who  took  a  great  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  colonies. 

Halifax,  the  county  seat,  preserves  the  aristocratic,  colonial  atmos- 
phere of  the  long-ago  days.  Much  of  the  archifecture  of  the  town  dates 
back  to  the  days  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  Before  and  after  the 
Eevolution  Halifax  was  a  center  of  social  and  political  life.  For  a 
while  it  was  the  capital  of  North  Carolina.  The  town  is  located  near 
the  Eoanoke  River  and  good  roads  make  it  accessible  to  the  people 
of  Virginia  as  well  as  North  Carolina.  By  rail  it  is  105  miles  north- 
east from  Raleigh. 

The  county  of  Halifax  is  located  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the 
state  along  the  Roanoke  River.  On  the  north  it  is  bounded  by  the 
Roanoke  River  and  Northampton  county;  on  the  west  by  Warren;  on  the 
south  by  Edgeeombe  and  Nash;  and  on  the  east  by  Martin  and  Bertie. 
It  is  triangular  in  shape,  with  a  length  of  about  sixty  miles  and  a  width 
of  about  20  miles.  It  is  six  miles  from  Virginia  at  the  nearest  point. 
The  climate  is  delightful  without  excess  of  rain  or  heat  or  cold,  which 
makes  splendid  crop  weather.  Toward  the  west  the  contour  of  the 
county  begins  to  roll  and  gives  the  scenery  not  of  the  Piedmont  country, 
but  more  like  a  mid-state  county.  The  effect  is  unique  and  attractive. 
Near  the  Roanoke  there  are  low  grounds,  which  are  exceedingly  fertile 
and  productive.  The  county  is  noted  for  its  large  pines  which  make 
lumbering  a  lucrative  business  for  our  farmers. 

As  I  have  stated,  the  county  was  formed  in  1758  from  Edgecombe 
and  given  the  name  Halifax.  The  earliest  inhabitants  of  this  section 
were  the  Tuscaroras,  an  Indian  tribe.  The  Indian  names  are  still 
prominent  as  names  of  creeks  and  villages.  Along  the  banks  of  the 
Roanoke,  which  is  an  Indian  name  meaning  The  River  of  Death, 
there  can  still  be  found  remains  of  pottery,  tomahawks,  peace  pipes, 
and  other  Indian  relics.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  as  the  Pale 


10  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

Faces  began  to  occupy  this  region  the  aborigines  peacefully  moved 
away  and  there  was  no  friction  between  the  two  races.  Evidently  there 
was  kindness  and  consideration  on  the  part  of  the  settlers  toward 
their  red  brothers. 

In  1772  a  group  of  Scotch  Highlanders  came  to  the  county  and 
settled  along  the  lower  banks  of,  the  Roanoke.  They  settled  in  the 
neck  of  the  river;  hence  the  name  of  Scotland  Neck.  In  succeeding 
years  immigrants  from  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  Virginia  be- 
gan to  pour  into  Halifax,  some  making  it  their  home,  while  others, 
dissatisfied,  too  idealistic,  or  still  entertaining  the  Old  English  idea  of 
1 '  gold  on  trees ' ',  moved  on  only  to  be  disappointed.  At  present  there 
is  a  population  of  about  45,000,  for  the  most  part  of  English  descent. 

The  county  is  divided  into  twelve  townships:  Halifax,  Weldon,  Roan- 
oke Rapids,  Littleton,  Conoconara,  Scotland  Neck,  Roseneath,  Butter- 
wood,  Brinkleyville,  Faucette,  Palmyra,  and  Enfield.  There  are  ten 
towns:  Weldon,  Roanoke  Rapids,  Littleton,  Scotland  Neck,  Halifax, 
Enfield,  Rosemary,  Hobgood,  Palmyra,  and  Hollister. 

Halifax,  being  an  old  county,  was  very  closely  connected  with  the 
Revolution  during  those  eventful  days.  For  many  years  after  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina 
met  and  transacted  business  in  the  town  of  Halifax,  thus  making  the 
town  the  capital  of  the  state  for  that  period. 

On  December  18,  1776,  the  First  Constitutional  Convention  of 
North  Carolina  met  at  Halifax  and  drew  up  the  Constitution  of  North 
Carolina,  thus  making  the  county  the  birth  place  of-  the  Constitution 

of  North  Carolina. 

0 

Cornwallis  and  Colonel  Tarleton,  on  their  way  to  their  Waterloo  at 
Yorktown,  stopped  a  week  at  Halifax  and  many  of  the  houses  which 
they  occupied  are  standing  to  this  day. 

Both  Washington  and  Lafayette  visited  the  county  at  different 
times  and  were  entertained  royally  at  Halifax  at  tjie  old  Eagle  Hotel. 

In  1776  resolutions  were  drawn  up  at  Halifax  for  the  purpose  of 
sending  delegates  to  a  Continental  Congress  to  declare  their  independ- 
ence and  to  form  foreign  alliances.  This  resolution,  the  first  of  its 
kind  in  America,  was  adopted  April  12th.  The  Continental  Congress 
acted  upon  this  resolution  of  North  Carolina,  and  a  National  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  was  passed  at  Philadelphia  July  4,  1776. 

Celebrities 

1.  One  day  in  the  year  1775  Willie  Jones,  a  celebrated  resident  of 
Halifax  county,  came  to  the  town  of  Halifax  and  saw  sitting  on  the 
steps  of  a  tavern  a  shabby,  dirty-looking  young  man  with  apparently 
no  motive  nor  interest  in  life.  Having  a  sympathetic,  big  heart,  he 
approached  the  stranger  and  this  is  the  conversation  that  followed: 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 


11 


"What  is  your  name?"  inquired  Jones. 

"I  have  none,"  answered  the  youth. 

"Where  is  your  home?"   asked  Jones. 

' '  I  have  none, ' '  again  answered  the  youth. 

Jones  took  the  boy  to  live  with  him.  In  gratitude  the  boy  adopted 
the  name  Jones  and  later  became  famous  as  the  founder  of  the  United 
States  Navy.  He  was  none  other  than  John  Paul  Jones.  The  house 
in  which  he  lived,  the  Grove  House,  is  still  standing,  having  been  re- 
cently bought  and  repaired  by  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion. After  a  brilliant  career  in  the  American  Navy  he  was  of  service 
to  Prussia  and  Eussia.  At  the  age  of  forty-five  he  died  in  the  prime 
of  life,  in  France.  After  sleeping  in  French  soil  for  over  a  hundred 
years  his  body  was  brought  to  this  country  and  interred  in  1905  in 
the  Chapel  of  the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis.  In  Potomac  Park, 
Washington,  D.  Cv  there  is  a  monument  to  him  as  the  Father  of  the 
American  Navy. 

2.  William  E.  Davie  when  a  mere  youth  came  to  this  country 
from  England  and  lived  with  his  uncle,  Eev.  William  Eichardson,  a 
Presbyterian  minister  residing  in  the  Waxhaw  settlement,  in  South 
Carolina.  About  1776  he  graduated  from  Princeton  with  a  degree  of 
M.  A.  and  with  first  honor.  Having  decided  to  make  law  his  pro- 
fession, he  began  his  study  in  Salisbury.  In  1779  after  joining  the 
American  Army  he  was  severely  wounded  at  Charleston  and  because 
of  his  wound  he  began  again  to  pursue  his  legal  profession,  but  knowing 
his  country  needed  men,  he  sold  his  inheritance  from  his  uncle,  and  used 
the  proceeds  to  raise  troops.  He  was  then  appointed  Colonel  by  Gov- 
ernor Nash  and  later  was  made  Commissary  General  of  North  Carolina. 

He  married  Sarah  Jones,  a  beautiful  daughter  of  General  Allen 
Jones,  and  made  his  home  at  Halifax,  then  the  most  important  place 
in  the  state.  It  was  not  long  before  his  qualities  brought  him  an  im- 
mense practice.  He  was  a  brilliant  and  forceful  speaker.  Combined 
with  this  talent  was  his  capacity  for  hard  work  in  preparing  a  case. 
As  a  result,  he  was  a  most  powerful  and  effective  advocate.  He  was 
tall,  elegant  in  person,  graceful,  and  gracious  in  manners. 

Through  his  influence  the  bill  to  establish  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  was  introduced  and  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  at  Fay- 
etteville,  in  1780.  He  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  education  and  was 
at  that  time  head  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  Warrenton  Academy. 

He  was  active  in  choosing  the  site,  raising  the  endowment,  electing 
professors,  and  outlining  the  proper  course  of  study  for  the  newly- 
established  university.  On  October  12,  1793,  as  Grand  Master  of  Masons, 
he  laid  the  cornerstone  of  the  Old  East  building  at  Chapel  Hill,  and 
in  1798,  in  the  same  capacity  he  laid  the  cornerstone  for  the  South 
building.  In  1811  the  University  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary  de- 


12  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

gree  of  LL.  D.,  the  first  in  its  history.  October  12th  has  long  been 
observed  as  University  Day. 

On  November  29,  1820,  he  died  and  was  buried  at  Waxhaw  Church, 
Lancaster  county,  South  Carolina.  Such,  in  brief,  is  the  story  of  n 
distinguished  soldier,  jurist,  statesman,  educator,  and  patriot.  His 
name  and  deeds  are  made  immortal  by  the  spirit  of  the  University 
and  by  the  beautiful  poplar  on  the  campus,  which  is  called  the  Davie 
Poplar,  and  which  is  renowned  the  world  around.  Eecently  a  small 
poplar  was  planted  near  the  old  Davie  Poplar  by  the  class  of  1918,  and 
was  named  Davie  Poplar,  Jr. 

3.  John  Branch  was  born  a  few  miles  from  the  town  of  Enfield  on 
the  4th  of  November,  1782.  He  became  one  of  the  most  popular  and 
highly-honored  natives  of  Halifax  county.  His  boyhood  was  spent 
around  the  place  of  his  nativity.  In  the  year  1801  he  graduated  from 
the  state  university.  His  first  appearance  in  public  life  was  in  1811 
when  he  was  elected  a  state  senator  and  he  was  re-elected  until  1817,  at 
which  time  he  was  made  Governor  of  North  Carolina.  After  serving 
the  full  term  he  came  back  to  Halifax  county  and  in  1823  was  sent 
to  the  United  States  Senate,  where  he  notably  served  until  General 
Jackson  honored  the  county  and  Governor  Branch  by  appointing  him 
Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

At  the  same  time  John  Eaton,  a  native  of  Halifax  county,  but  living 
in  Tennessee,  was  made  Secretary  of  War.  It  was  certainly  a  coinci- 
dence that  the  county  of  Halifax  should  have  two  natives  in  the 
President's  cabinet  at  the  same  time. 

Because  of  a  breach  between  the  President  and  Secretary  Branch 
over  social  matters,  Branch  resigned.  His  actions  made  him  still  more 
popular  and  in  1843  he  was  appointed  Governor  of  Florida.  What 
a  shower  of  elections,  appointments,  and  honors!  Surely  he  was  a 
great  man.  At  Enfield,  January  4,  1863,  this  great  man  of  the 
county,  the  state,  and  the  country  passed  away. 

Other  Contributions  to  the  State  and  Nation 

Joseph  Montford,  the  first  and  only  Grand  Master  of  Masons  for 
the  continent  of  North  America,  lived  in  Halifax. 

Willie  Jones  was  a  representative  of  the  state  in  the  Continental 
Congress. 

Abner  Nash  was  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  1780-81;  William 
B.  Davie  was  Governor,  1798-99;  John  Branch  from  1817-20;  Hutch- 
ings  Burton  from  1825-27,  and  W.  W.  Kitchin  from  1909-13. 

There  were  six  attorney-generals  from  Halifax  county:  John  Hay- 
wood,  1791-94;  H.  G.  Burton,  1810-16;  William  Drew,  1816-25;  John 
B.  V.  Daniel,  1835-40;  Spier  Whitaker,  1842-46;  and  B.  F.  Moore, 
1848-51. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  13 

Two  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina  have  come  from 
Halifax  county:  Joseph  V.  Daniel,  1832-48,  and  Walter  Clark,  1889 — . 

Five  judges  of  the  Superior  Court  have  been  furnished  by 
Halifax  county:  John  Haywood,  1794-1800;  Joseph  V.  Daniel,  1816- 
32;  Walter  Clark,  1885-89;  Spier  Whitaker,  1889-94;  and  W.  E. 
Cox,  1877-79. 

Sixteen  representatives  in  Congress  and  one  Senator:  Allen  Jones, 
1779-80;  Willie  Jones,  1780-81;  John  B.  Ashe,  1789-93;  Willis  Als- 
ton, Jr.,  1800-15,  1825-31;  Starling  Tucker,  1817-31;  H.  G.  Burton, 
1820-25;  John  Branch,  1831-33;  Jesse  A.  Bynum,  1833-41;  J.  E.  J. 
Daniel,  1841-53;  L.  O'B.  Branch,  1855-61;  B.  S.  Turner,  1871-73; 
W.  H.  Kitchin,  1879-81;  W.  E.  Cox,  1881-87;  J.  E.  O'Hara,  1883-87; 
W.  W.  Kitchin,  1897-1902;  Claude  Kitchin,  1901—;  and  Senator  John 
Branch,  1824-  '31. 

A  paragraph  from  Allen's  History  of  Halifax  county  contains  the 
facts  that  make  every  native  of  Halifax  county  swell  with  pride.  They 
are  facts  that  show  that  Halifax  leads  not  in  population,  manufacture, 
or  material,  but  in  men. 

11  Halifax  has  furnished  more  governors  (five);  more  attorney- 
generals  (six) ;  more  members  of  Congress  (fifteen) ;  more  brigadier- 
generals  (six)  than  any  other  county  in  the  state." 

"The  true  test  of  civilization  is  not  in  the  census,  nor  the  size  of 
the  cities,  nor  the  crops — No — but  the  kind  of  men  the  country  turns 
out. ' ' — 'Emerson. 

Sources  of  Information — Sprunt's  Sketches;  Allen's  History  of 
Halifax  County;  Wheeler's  Sketches  of  North  Carolina;  N.  C.  Manual, 
1913. 


II 
NATURAL  RESOURCES 


R.   S.   TEA  VIS,  JR. 
Geography 

Halifax  county  is  situated  partly  in  the  Piedmont  plateau  and  partly 
in  the  Coastal  plain.  It  has  an  area  of  676  square  miles,  or  432,640 
acres.  Bounded  on  the  north  and  east  by  the  Roanok'e  river,  on  the 
south  by  Nash  and  Edgecombe  counties,  and  on  the  west  by  Warren, 
it  presents  a  very  irregular  outline.  The  surface  configuration  varies 
considerably  in  different  localities.  West  of  a  line  drawn  from  Battle's 
bridge  on  Fishing  creek  to  Boiling,  the  surface  is  prevailingly  rolling, 
steeply  rolling,  and  hilly  with  intervening  smaller  areas  of  undulating 
to  gently  rolling  country.  To  the  east  or  southeast  the  topography  be- 
comes less  broken.  In  the  vicinity  of  Enfield  and  Scotland  Neck  and 
throughout  the  southern  end  of  the  county  the  surface  is  prevailingly 
flat  to  undulating,  with  gentle  slopes  toward  the  bottom  lands. 

The  general  slope  of  the  country  is  toward  the  southeast.  Ac- 
cording to  records  .of  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line  Railroad,  Hobgood  is 
88  feet  above  sea  level,  Palmyra  95  feet,  Weldon  77  feet,  Halifax  101 
feet,  and  Enfield  99  feet.  Points  in  the  western  part  of  the  county  prob- 
ably reach  an  elevation  of  400  or  500  feet. 

Soils  and  Seasons 

The  soils  in  Halifax  county  may  be  classed  in  three  groups,  accord- 
ing to  their  origin:  the  residual  soils  of  the  Piedmont  plateau;  the 
sedimentary  soils  of  the  Coastal  plain;  and  the  alluvial  soils  developed 
along  streams  throughout  the  county.  The  soil  in  general  is  lacking  in 
sufficient  organic  matter,  but  this  can  easily  be  remedied  by  turning 
under  such  crops  as  clover,  soy  beans,  etc. 

The  climate  of  Halifax  county  is  well  suited  to  the  production  of 
a  wide  range  of  general  farm  products.  Of  late  truck  and  stock  farm- 
ing are  beginning  a  vigorous  development.  The  winters  are  short  and 
comparatively  mild;  the  summers  are  long  but  not  excessively  hot. 
The  mean  annual  rainfall  is  47.22  inches,  and  the  mean  annual  tempera- 
ture is  58.9°  F.  Crops  seldom  suffer  from  drought,  and  there  is  a 
normal  growing  season  of  195  days,  which  is  long  enough  for  all 
ordinary  crops. 

With  soil  and  climate  conditions  such  as  these,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  agriculture  is  the  principal  industry  of  the  people.  At  the  present 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  15 

time  the  principal  crops  are  cotton,  tobacco,  corn,  and  peanuts,  with 
grain,  forage,  cow  peas,  sweet  potatoes,  and  other  vegetables  as 
crops  of  secondary  importance.  Cotton  is  the  most  important  crop. 
The  crop  of  1919  was  valued  at  $5,000,000.  All  that  is  produced  is 
sold  on  the  local  markets,  and  a  considerable  part  of  it  is  manu- 
factured at  Eoanoke  Eapids,  Eosemary,  Scotland  Neck,  Halifax,  Eniield, 
and  Weldon.  Second  in  importance  to  cotton  is  tobacco.  Tn  1919 
we  produced  4,102,000  pounds  worth  $2,200,000. 

Next  in  importance  come  peanuts.  These  are  used  to  some  extent 
for  subsistence,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  crop  is  sold  on  the  local 
markets,  and  either  disposed  of  to  dealers  in  Norfolk,  Portsmouth,  or 
Petersburg,  or  handled  by  the  mills  within  the  county.  A  few  of  the 
most  extensive  growers  ship  directly  to  outside  markets.  The  peanut 
crop  of  1919  brought  $1,320,000  and  only  four  counties  produced  more. 

By  far  the  biggest  subsistence  crop  of  the  county  is  corn,  and,  al- 
though this  crop  ranks  fourth  in  importance,  there  is  not  enough  pro- 
duced in  the  county  to  supply  the  local  demand,  large  quantities  being 
shipped  in  each  year.  The  corn  is  used  to  feed  workstock  and  hogs 
and  is  also  ground  for  domestic  use. 

Tobacco  is  fast  becoming  the  leading  crop  in  Halifax.  Yearly  it 
is  pushing  peanuts  to  the  south,  as  the  farmers  realize  the  greater  gains 
to  be  had  through  its  growth.  The  ten-year  increase  in  tobacco  from 
1909  to  1919  was  344  per  cent.  The  total  production  in  1910  amounted 
to  924,000  pounds  and  sold  for  an  average  of  about  10  cents  a  pound; 
in  1919  we  produced  4,100,000  pounds  with  an  average  of  53  cents  a 
pound.  In  1919  Halifax  ranked  28th  in  the  state  in  tobacco  production. 
The  erection  of  warehouses  in  Enfield  and  other  towns  has  provided 
markets  of  easy  access  to  the  growers.  The  crop  is  destined  to  see  a 
great  increase  in  the  future  and  to  become  a  source  of  still  greater 
wealth  to  the  farmers. 

Practically  all  of  the  agricultural  products  of  Halifax  are  marketed 
within  the  county. 

Cotton  and  peanuts  find  a  ready  market  in  Weldon,  Scotland  Neck, 
Enfield  and  Tillery.  Littleton,  Eoanoke  Eapids,  Eosemary  and  Hob- 
good  are  good  cotton  markets.  Enfield  has  recently  risen  to  great  im- 
portance as  a  tobacco  market,  and  much  of  the  tobacco  is  sold  there 
which  was  formerly  sold  at  Eocky  Mount  and  Warrenton.  At  Scotland 
Neck,  Enfield  and  Weldon  there  are  factories  for  shelling,  grading 
and  packing  peanuts,  and  from  these  points  shelled  peanuts  are  shipped 
to  all  parts  of  the  country.  Potatoes,  fruits  and  vegetables  are  dis- 
posed of  in  the  local  towns. 

Railroads  and  Highways 

The  central  part  of  Halifax  county  is  traversed  from  north  to 
south  by  the  main  line  of  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line  Eailroad  from  New 


16  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

York  to  Jacksonville.  The  Kinston-Weldon  branch  of  the  same  system 
extends  southeasterly  across  the  eastern  half  of  the  county,  making  con- 
nections at  Hobgood  with  the  Norfolk  branch  which  crosses  the  county 
near  the  southeastern  boundary.  The  northern  part  of  the  county  is 
served  by  the  Ealeigh-Norfolk  branch  of  the  Seaboard  Air  Line.  Hali- 
fax has  admirable  railway  facilities. 

The  main  highways  of  Halifax  county  are  in  good  condition,  and 
they  are  gradually  being  improved.  Good  roads  branch  out  from  Hali- 
fax to  Weldon,  Littleton,  Scotland  Neck,  Enfield,  and  Eoanoke  Kapids. 
An  improved  road  connects  Littleton,  Kingwood  and  Enfield,  and  an- 
other extends  from  Eingwood  to  Eocky  Mount.  At  present  operations 
are  under  way  for  the  construction  of  a  concrete  road  from  Weldon  to 
Eoanoke  Eapids.  The  greater  part  of  the  county  is  served  by  telephone 
lines. 

Water  Power 

Halifax  is  drained  by  the  Eoanoke  river,  Fishing  creek  and  their 
tributaries.  The  Eoanoke  river  is  a  swiftly-flowing  stream  and  near 
Eoanoke  Eapids  considerable  water  power  has  been  developed.  Here 
are  found  some  of  the  most  modern  mills  of  the  state,  a  description 
of  which  occurs  in  another  chapter  of  this  publication.  Below  Halifax 
the  river  appears  to  have  reached  its  base  level  and  the  current  is 
much  slower.  A  few  grist  mills  are  operated  on  the  smaller  streams. 

With  these^  natural  resources  and  favorable  conditions,  the  future 
standing  of  Halifax  is  assured.  Already  we  lead  in  many  of  our  in- 
dustries and  slow  progress  in  the  future  seems  impossible.  Our  variety 
of  soils  and  seasons  combine  to  give  us  ideal  farm  conditions.  Water 
power  occurs  in  abundance  in  favorable  places,  and  the  whole  county 
is  covered  by  a  network  of  railways  and  good  roads  for  the  immediate 
and  easy  transportation  of  products. 

Inhabited,  tHen,  by  wide-awake,  industrious  people,  Halifax  is  des- 
tined to  even  further  development  both  as  an  agricultural  and  as  a 
manufacturing  county  of  no  mean  importance. 

tined  to  even  further  development  both  as  an  agricultural  and  as  a 
Survey  of  Halifax  County. 


ni 
INDUSTRIES  AND  OPPORTUNITIES 


SIDNEY  B.  ALLEN 

Although  Halifax  is  predominantly  an  agricultural  county,  manu- 
facturing is  rising  into  large  proportions  of  late  years.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  Halifax  is  fast  taking  its  place  among  the  leading  manufactur- 
ing counties  of  the  state,  especially  in  cotton  and  paper  goods.  Its 
greatest  manufacturing  town,  Eoanoke  Eapids,  is  situated  on  the 
Eoanoke  river  at  a  point  where  natural  water  power  is  abundant  and 
easily  commandeered.  Blessed  with  this  advantage  of  limitless  pos- 
sibilities of  cheap  water  power,  the  wide-awake  mill  men  of  the  com- 
munity have  seized  upon  it,  and  the  result  is  a  lively,  prosperous  and 
progressive  manufacturing  district. 

At  Weldon,  also,  the  rapids  of  the  Roanoke  lend  its  water  power 
to  industry.  The  Weldon  Cotton  Manufacturing  Company,  one  of  the 
oldest  industries  of  the  county,  receives  its  power  from  this  source. 
Power  for  the  Roanoke  Development  Company,  which,  together  with  the 
Roanoke  Rapids  Power  Company,  furnishes  electric  energy  for  Weldon, 
is  also  furnished  by  the  Roanoke  river. 

The  value  of  the  water  power  that  lay  dormant  in  the  whirling 
rapids  of  the  Roanoke  was  seen  and  appreciated  by  the  late  Major 
Thomas  Leyburn  Emery,  of  Weldon,  who  solicited  foreign  capital,  and 
began  the  first  water  power  development  in  1895.  This  date  marks  the 
beginning  of  the  wonderful  development  and  rapid  growth  of  Roanoke 
Rapids.  Major  Emery  foresaw  the  possibilities  of  a  prosperous  town 
in  the  abundance  of  water  power  here  and  from  his  ideas  sprang  the 
present  toAvns  of  Roanoke  Rapids  and  Rosemary.  His  aim  was  to  have 
several  industries  locate  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  from  which  they 
could  obtain  power,  and  his  first  effort  was  the  location  of  the  Roanoke 
Mills  Company.  Major  Emery,  realizing  the  commercial  possibilities 
of  the  power  in  the  muddy  Roanoke,  organized  the  company  and  super- 
intended the  building  of  tne  first  hydro-electric  plant.  Mr.  S.  F.  Pat- 
terson was  placed  in  charge  of  the  enterprise,  which,  through  his  fore- 
sight and  business  genius,  was  able  to  overcome  the  many  obstacles 
that  fall  in  the  way  of  a  young  industry.  It  now  stands  as  one  of  the 
greatest  mill  properties  in  the  south. 

Believing  that  the  major  manufacturing  enterprises  of  the  county 
merit  a  detailed  discussion,  we  have  acted  upon  our  belief,  and  are, 
below,  giving  attention  to  those  about  which  we  have  been  able  to  ob- 


18  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

tain  information.  The  absence  of  discussion  on  some  concerns  of  the 
county  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  our  request  for  data  and  details 
was  not  given  attention.  However,  most  of  the  important  manufactur- 
ing companies  of  the  county  are  considered  here. 

We  have  endeavored  in  our  consideration  and  discussions  below  to 
be  as  impartial  as  possible,  but  we  have  adhered  to  the  policy  that 
would  give  credit  where  credit  is  due. 

The  Roanoke  Mills  Company 

The  Eoanoke  Mills  Company  was  incorporated  in  1895,  and  began 
actual  operation  in  1897.  This  corporation  is  considered  the  pioneer 
in  the  industrial  development  of  the  community.  Other  industrial 
plants  located  at  Eoanoke  Eapids  before  the  birth  of  this  enterprise 
had  not  proven  successful. 

The  company  was  organized  with  $53,000  of  capital  stock  and  a  con- 
tract was  let  for  a  $50,000  building.  Mr.  S.  F.  Patter-son,  formerly 
president,  treasurer  and  general  manager  of  the  Thistle  Mills  Com- 
pany, of  Lichester,  Md.,  was  secured  as  general  manager.  Mr.  Patter- 
son increased  the  capital  to  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars, 
with  which  the  equipment  was  considerably  enlarged. 

The  first  mill  built  by  the  company  was  equipped  with  12,096 
spindles  and  320  looms,  which  were  used  for  the  manufacture  of  print 
cloth.  In  1918,  the  mill  had  in  operation  30,000  spindles  and  842  looms. 

Today,  the  Eoanoke  Mills  Company  has  an  authorized  capital  stock 
of  $3,000,000,  common,  and  $500,000,  preferred.  There  is  actually 
issued  and  outstanding  $2,000,000,  of  common,  and  $500,000,  of  pre- 
ferred stock.  It  has  53,000  spindles,  and  1,500  looms;  consumes  about 
1,300  bales  of  cotton  a  year;  produces  about  6,000,000  pounds  of  cloth. 
It  manufactures  flannels,  or  outing  cloths,  and  dyes  and  finishes  all  its 
products.  Its  employees  number,  approximately,  1,000,  and  its  pay 
roll  is  approximately  $1,000,000  annually. 

In  1918,  Mill  No.  2  of  the  Eoanoke  Mills  Company  was  completed. 
This  mill  is  a  large  re-enforced  concrete  building  of  the  most  modern 
construction,  and  at  its  beginning  was  equipped  with  23,000  spindles. 
Its  product  is  yarns  used  in  the  making  of  automobile  tire  fabrics. 

The  interest  that  the  owners  of  the  Eoarfoke  Mills  have  manifested 
in  their  operatives  has  at  all  times  been  most  considerate,  and  no  strikes 
have  ever  occurred.  The  welfare,  efficiency,  and  happiness  of  the  oper- 
atives have  been  the  first  consideration  in  the  mind  of  the  mill  owners. 
The  mills  of  Eoanoke  Eapids  and  Eosemary  furnish  their  operatives 
with  villages  that  are  sanitary  in  every  respect.  The  tenant  houses 
are  cozy  and  attractive,  with  well-ventilated  rooms.  These  houses  are 
rented  to  the  operatives,  on  the  average,  at  $1.50  per  week. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  19 

Local  Market  Established 

Previous  to  the  operation  of  the  Eoanoke  Mills,  the  farmers  of  Hal- 
ifax and  nearby  counties  were  compelled  to  market  their  cotton  at 
distant  places.  With  .the  establishment  of  the  Eoanoke  Mills  came 
the  establishment  of  a  local  market  for  cotton.  The  mills  have  always 
paid  the  farmers  the  highest  price  for  their  cotton.  During  the  year 
1917,  8,200  bales  of  cotton  were  used  by  the  Eoanoke  Mills,  most  of 
which  was  bought  from  the  farmers  of  this  section.  The  new  mill 
uses  something  like  6,000  bales  of  cotton  each  year. 

As  a  money  circulator,  the  mills  of  Eoanoke  Eapids  have  been  a 
distinct  blessing  to  the  community  •  and  surrounding  country.  At  the 
close  of  the  year  1917  this  company  had  paid  out  $700,000  for  cotton, 
of  which  $580,000  went  to  farmers  of  Halifax  and  the  adjoining  coun- 
ties, and  they  keep  the  greater  part  of  their  receipts  in  the  county 
by  trading  with  the  merchants  of  the  county. 

The  Eoanoke  Mills  Company  is  the  greatest  asset  of  Eoanoke  Eap- 
ids, and  credit  should  be  given  them  for  the  greater  part  of  its  phe- 
nomenal growth.  With  the  success  of  the  Eoanoke  Mills  as  their  para- 
mount aim,  they  have  nevertheless  neglected  nothing  that  would  in 
any  way  better  this  and  the  adjoining  counties. 

A  great  deal  might  be  said  of  the  man  who  has  been  the  guiding 
hand  and  moving  spirit  in  the  phenomenal  development  of  the  Eoanoke 
Eapids  community.  Mr.  Samuel  F.  Patterson  has  always  been  one  of 
the  community's  most  valued  citizens.  He  is  a  Tar  Heel  of  the  high- 
est type.  He  was  born  and  reared  in  Winston-Salem,  and  has  been 
identified  with  cotton  manufacturing  all  his  life.  Mr.  Patterson  may 
well  be  considered  the  father  of  the  Eoanoke  Eapids  community,  for 
he  organized  the  Eosemary  Manufacturing  Company,  and  the  Patterson 
Mills,  both  of  which  are  today  successful  enterprises. 

Mr.  Patterson  has  always  had  at  heart  the  welfare  of  the  entire 
community,  and  has  never  overlooked  or  failed  to  seize  upon  any  matter 
which  would  tend  to  make  the  community  more  prosperous,  or  the  people 
more  contented.  His  activity  has  by  no  means  been  confined  to  the 
commercial  and  industrial  advancement  of  the  community,  but  he  has 
been  most  influential  in  any  phase  of  social  and  civic  life  that  has  for 
its  goal  a  bigger,  better,  and  more  wholesome  life  for  the  people  of 
the  county. 

Halifax   Paper  Corporation 

The  Halifax  Paper  Corporation  was  the  second  manufacturing  con- 
cern to  be  established  at  Eoanoke  Eapids.  The  capital  was  furnished 
by  foreign  enterprises.  At  the  start  the  mill  manufactured  a  cheap 
grade  of  fibre  paper  for  wrapping  purposes,  and  this  grade  was  made 
until  the  mill  began  the  production  of  Kraft  wrapping  paper  in  1911. 
This  corporation  has  the  distinction  of  making  the  first  Kraft  wrapping 


20  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

paper  produced  by  American  industry.  It  was  this  mill  that  intro- 
duced to  the  American  people  and  trade  a  home-made  Kraft  paper. 

Today,  the  output  of  this  .mill  is  shipped  into  every  state  east  of 
the  Eockies,  and  is  consumed  as  fast  as  the  mill  can  make  it. 

Not  only  does  this  corporation  bring  into  the  county  outside  money 
to  be  circulated  among  the  local  enterprises,  but  it  establishes  a  local 
market  for  the  sale  of  small  pine  wood.  The  farmers  are  able  to  turn 
this  commodity  into  ready  cash  at  far  higher  prices  than  they  ever 
received  before. 

The  extraordinary  success  of  the  Halifax  Paper  Corporation  has 
been  due  to  the  services  of  its  president  and  general  manager,  Dr.  J.  T. 
Taylor.  When  he  assumed  charge  in  1913,  he  immediately  gave  the 
business  a  new  life,  and  to  him  is  attributed  the  present  success  of  the 
corporation.  Mr.  Taylor  was  formerly  with  the  Eoanoke  Fibre  Board 
Co.  of  Eoanoke  Eapids,  which  industry  he  managed  for  several  years. 

The  Halifax  Paper  Corporation  has  contributed  liberally  to  all 
causes  looking  to  the  betterment  of  Eoanoke  Eapids.  They  are  equal 
donators  to  the  Eoanoke  Eapids  Hospital,  a  young  and  efficient  in* 
stitution  built  by  the  mills  of  Eoanoke  Eapids  and  Eosemary. 

The  Rosemary  Manufacturing  Company 

The  Eosemary  Manufacturing  Company  operates  the  largest  cotton 
damask  mill  in  the  world.  From  their  45,000  spindles  and  1,200  looms 
there  comes  more  than  a  third  of  the  product  which  adorns  the  tables 
of  America's  dining  rooms.  Millions  of  yards  of  table  cloth,  and  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  dozens  of  napkins  and  pattern  cloths  are  pro- 
duced yearly. 

The  Eosemary  Manufacturing  Company  began  to  operate  in  1901 
with  3,000  spindles  and  50  looms,  making  only  one  grade  of  goods,  of 
medium  quality.  The  plant  has  steadily  grown  in  size  and  the  quality 
of  the  product  has  steadily  improved.  Today  the  plant  manufactures 
fifty  styles  of  damask. 

The  plant  has  a  modern  and  completely-equipped  machine  shop, 
a  supply  house,,  two  steam  electric  turbine  power  plants,  and  two  large 
warehouses  for  the  storage  of  thousands  of  bales  of  cotton.  The 
machine  shop  is  the  largest  in  this  section  of  the  state.  It  employs 
more  than  25  skilled  mechanics,  and  the  shop  equipment  is  valued  at 
more  than  $15,000.  It  is  one  of  the  best-equipped  cotton  mill  machine 
shops  in  the  South.  The  plant  operates  entirely  from  its  own  power, 
generated  by  its  two  turbine  power  plants. 

Between  1,000  and  1,100  operatives  are  employed  in  the  mills  of 
this  company,  and  their  condition  speaks  highly  for  the  unselfish  in- 
terest that  the  company  takes  in  its  employees. 

In  the  village,  which  is  owned  by  the  company,  there  are  nearly 
300  single,  and  about  90  double,  houses.  They  are  well-ventilated  and 
modernly  equipped.  They  are  rented  to  operatives  at  a  very  low  rate. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY  :  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  21 

• 

The  company  is  active  in  making  the  village  life  as  attractive  and 
enjoyable  as  possible.  It  has  provided  and  equipped  a  large  park 
and  playground.  There  is  also  a  library  of  more  than  800  volumes.  A 
recreation  hall  is  provided,  which  is  used  as  a  kindergarten  during  the 
day.  It  is  in  charge  of  a  graduate  teacher  employed  by  the  company. 
The  company  has  also  constructed  in  the  village  a  first-aid  dispensary, 
where  the  doctors  have  a  well-equipped  operating  room,  laboratory,  and 
private  consultation  room. 

Ten  acres  or  more  of  land  have  been  provided  for  gardening  pur- 
poses, and  those  who  do  not  have  sufficient  space  at  home  are  given  a 
plot  on  this  tract.  The  land  is  plowed  by  the  company,  and  the  garden- 
ing is  supervised  by  an  experienced  gardener.  There  are  a  canning 
club  and  a  tomato  club  conducted  in  the  village,  and  the  company  fur- 
nishes a  scientific  cannery,  steam-drying  plant,  and  domestic  science 
laboratory  free  to  its  employees. 

From  these  details  it  can  be  seen  that  the  mills  have  left  nothing 
undone  to  maintain  the  highest  efficiency,  and  to  bring  about  the  high- 
est standard  of  living  among  its  operatives. 

The  Patterson  Mills  Company 

No  mill  has  done  more  to  put  Roanoke  Rapids  on  the  map  in  cotton 
manufacturing  than  the  Patterson  Mills,  which  is  the  youngest  industry 
of  its  kind  in  operation  in  this  town.  The  company  was  organized  in 
the  year  1910,  and  began  operations  with  just  half  the  equipment  it 
has  at  present.  From  time  to  time  the  equipment  has  been  increased 
until  today  they  operate  29,000  spindles  and  742  looms. 

The  major  part  of  the  property  owned  by  the  company,  exclusive  of 
that  occupied  by  the  plant,  is  a  well-laid-out  and  healthy  village  consist- 
ing of  some  eighty  or  ninety  homes,  all  of  which  are  modernly  con- 
structed two-story  buildings.  These  dwellings  are  rented  to  the  opera- 
tives at  a  very  low  weekly  rate  per  room.  The  management  has  always 
exercised  great  care  in  assuring  the  operatives  a  village  life  as  com- 
fortable and  pleasant  as  possible.  The  company  employs  a  doctor  and 
nurse  whose  whole  time  is  given  toward  the  health  of  the  employees, 
free  of  charge.  The  Patterson  Mills  also  contributed  its  pro-rata  share 
to  the  Roanoke  Rapids  Hospital. 

There  are  over  400  persons  in  employment  at  the  Patterson  mills. 
The  product  of  the  mills  is  the  highest  grade  of  dress  ginghams,  and 
they  are  always  in  great  demand. 

.A  large  part  of  the  credit  for  the  success  of  the  Patterson  Mills  is 
due  to  Mr.  J.  A.  Moore,  who  is  the  president  and  general  manager  of 
the  mills.  Mr.  Moore  is  an  enthusiastic  community  builder,  and  has 
always  taken  part  in  all  affairs  looking  toward  a  bigger  and  better 
community. 


22  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

• 
The  Roanoke  Fibre  Board  Co. 

The  Eoanoke  Fibre  Board  Company's  mill  was  the  first  manufactur- 
ing plant  erected  at  Eoanoke  Eapids.  It  is  located  on  the  Eoanoke 
river,  and  is  operated  principally  by  water  power.  The  building  was 
originally  constructed  and  designed  as  a  knitting  mill,  and  was  used 
as  such  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1905  it  was  converted  into  a  me- 
chanical pulp  mill,  and  was  operated  as  such  until  1909,  when  the 
Eoanoke  Fibre  Board  Company  was  organized.  It  purchased  the  mill 
and  equipment  and  converted  these  into  a  paper  board  mill. 

The  mill  now  manufactures  combination  and  container  boards,  and 
the  product  is  eagerly  sought.  The  mill  consumes  many  hundreds  of 
cords  of  pine  pulp  wood  each  year,  and  a  great  amount  of  the  raw 
material  used  is  bought  from  the  farmers  in  this  and  adjoining  counties. 

The  company  gives  employment  to  more  than  125  men.  The  monthly 
pay  roll  of  them  all  amounts  to  about  $10,000.  The  plant  has  now 
an  operating  capacity  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  tons  a  day.  It  is  now 
considered  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  container  and  fibre  board 
plants  in  the  south.  Mr.  F.  M.  Brown  is  in  charge  of  the  mill. 

Mills  at  Weldon 

At  Weldon  there  are  two  very  progressive  cotton  mills,  the  Shaw 
Cotton  Mills  Company,  and  the  Weldon  Cotton  Manufacturing  Company. 
The  Shaw  Cotton  Mills  have  in  operation  10,000  spindles,  and  the 
Weldon  Manufacturing  Company  has  3,636  spindles.  The  former  man- 
ufactures hosiery  splicing  yarn  on  cones,  while  the  latter  manufactures 
men's  cotton  knit  underwear. 

The  raw  materials  used  in  these  mills  are  bought  from  the  cotton 
growers  in  the  county,  and  these  two  cotton  mills,  in  conjunction  with 
those  situated  at  other  towns  in  the  county,  furnish  a  local  market 
for  cotton. 

The  Weldon  Lumber  Company,  an  old  and  successful  enterprise, 
is  a  large  plant  which  exports  great  quantities  of  lumber.  There  is 
a  peanut  factory  at  Weldon,  also,  which  prepares  peanuts  for  northern 
markets.  A  modern  ice  plant  at  Weldon  supplies  ice  for  a  large  section 
of  the  county.  Situated  at  Weldon,  also,  is  a  hardwood  mill,  which 
deals  exclusively  with  hardwood  and  exports  large  quantities  of  its 
product. 

Other  factories  at  Weldon  are  a  small  grist  mill,  a  large  brick 
manufacturing  plant,  a  paper  box  mill,  three  soft-drink  bottling  works, 
three  job  printeries,  and  an  up-to-date  ginning  mill. 

Dixon  Lumber  and  Millwork  Company  was  chartered  in  1912  with 
an  authorized  capital  stock  of  $50,000.  It  gives  regular  employment 
to  thirty  or  forty  employees,  both  skilled  and  unskilled.  The  products 
of  the  mill  are  principally  interior  finishing  materials  for  building 


TOP— GIRLS'   DORMITORY.   ROSEMARY  MANUFACTURING   Co. 
MIDDLE— KINDERGARTEN  PLAYGROUND,   ROSEMARY  MANUFACTURING   Co. 
BOTTOM— COMMUNITY  CANNERY,  ROSEMARY  MANUFACTURING  Co. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  23 

construction,  such  as  mouldings,  stairway  materials,  mantels,  doors, 
and  such  planing  mill  products  as  ceiling,  flooring,  and  weather-board- 
ing. 

This  enterprise  is  headed  by  Mr.  Samuel  J.  Dixon,  and  through 
his  kindness  we  have  been  able  to  obtain  the  following  figures  which 
give  some  idea  of  the  development  of  the  mill  and  the  county,  since  a 
large  part  of  the  business  carried  on  is  done  within  the  county: 

Sales  for  the  year  1919  amounted  to  $175,000,  and  for  the  first 
quarter  of  the  present  year  the  total  sales  amounted  to  nearly  $90,000. 
The  present  annual  payroll  for  operatives  alone  is  $60,000. 

The  company  is  now  engaged  in  the  erection  of  several  small  mod- 
ern family  houses  designed  to  provide  pleasant  and  comfortable  quarters 
for  its  operatives. 

Scotland  Neck  Cotton  Mills 

The  Scotland  Neck  Cotton  Mills  was  organized  and  incorporated  in 
1899,  and  has  been  running  steadily  ever  since,  without  a  stop  for  any 
cause  except  a  break-down  or  a  regular  holiday.  This  is  one  of  the 
oldest  hosiery  manufacturing  plants  in  the  South. 

The  company  has  a  capital  stock  and  surplus  amounting  to  $250,000. 
The  yearly  output  is  225,000  dozen  of  ladies'  and  misses'  seamless 
hosiery,  the  amount  of  raw.  material  consumed  is  $350,000,  and  the 
annual  payroll  is  $90,000.  The  mill  has  252  knitting  machines  and 
gives  employment  to  some  200  persons. 

The  mill  building  is  located  on  a  large  lot,  and  there  is  abundant 
light  and  ventilation  from  all  sides.  The  mill  owns  35  tenement 
houses,  each  located  on  a  lot  50  by  200  feet;  thus  providing  for  a 
large  portion  of  its  operatives  an  attractive  small  village. 

Shipments  of  the  products  of  the  mills  are  made  to  practically 
every  state  in  the  Union,  and  during  the  last  several  years  consider- 
able exporting  has  been  carried  on. 

Scotland  Neck  is  situated  in  the  center  of  the  peanut  area  and  is 
one  of  the  largest  markets  in  the  world  for  that  product.  The  Na- 
tional Spanish  Peanut  Company  is  a  large  plant  which  shells  and  bags 
the  peanuts  for  foreign  markets. 

Hollister 

Hollister  is  a  town  that  has  grown  up  like  magic.  Extensive  lumber 
manufacturing  is  done  here,  and  around  this  industry  as  a  nucleus 
has  grown  and  developed  a  prosperous  town,  with  a  bank,  beautiful 
residences,  and  fine  streets. 

Miscellaneous  Factories 

Included  under  the  head  of  miscellaneous  factories  are  all  of  the 
industrial  enterprises  not  already  mentioned  which  are  listed  in 
the  report  of  the  Department  of  Labor  and  Printing.  This  report, 


24  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

which  is  for  the  years  1917-18,  is  incomplete,  but  must  necessarily 
be  relied  upon. 

According  to  the  best  figures  available,  the  total  capital  of  these 
miscellaneous  manufacturing  enterprises  in  the  county  is  $288,625. 
This,  of  course,  is  not  the  actual  amount,  since  many  are  not  listed  in 
the  report,  and  many  declined  to  disclose  the  capital  employed.  Omis- 
sions of  this  kind  keep  us  from  making  a  proper  showing  for  the 
county. 

These  miscellaneous  industries  include  hosiery  mills,  job  printeries, 
-j.ee  and  brick  plants,  ginning  mills,  peanut  factories,  and  lumber  mills, 
and  numerous  others  too  varied  for  classification. 

Opportunities 

The  things  necessary  for  the  development  of  manufacturing  are 
sufficient  capital,  raw  products  within  easy  reach,  efficient  workers,  and 
ample  transportation  facilities.  .  Halifax  is  blessed  with  all  these.  And 
in  addition  we  have  a  good  climate,  Excellent  water  power,  and 
assured  markets. 

During  the  last  few  years  there  has  been  a  tremendous  growth  in 
most  of  our  industrial  plants.  But  we  have  all  the  requirements  for 
still  more  industries.  We  are  blessed  by*  being  situated  in  the  heart 
of  one  of  the  best  cotton-growing  areas  of  the  state.  Cotton  manufac- 
turing is  our  greatest  industry,  however,  and  our  greatest  need  in  the 
line  of  manufacturing  enterprises  is  not  in  cotton,  but  in  tobacco  and 
lumber.  Nevertheless  there  is  ample  room  for  more  cotton  enterprises. 

We  have  noticed  how  Halifax  has  come  forward  in  recent  years  as 
a  tobacco-raising  county.  We  also  are  aware  of  the  majority  of  negroes 
in  Halifax.  These  two  requisites,  along  with  others,  furnish  a  great 
opportunity  for  the  establishment  of  tobacco  factories  in  the  county. 
Negro  labor  is  well  adapted  to  such  factories,  and  we  have  plenty  of  it. 
Our  shipping  facilities  are  excellent.  Tobacco  factories  in  Halifax 
would  indeed  be  a  great  asset  to  the  county.  Why  can  we  not  have 
a  tobacco  factory  in  Halifax  in  the  near  future? 

Markets  For  Food  Supplies 

One  of  our  greatest  opportunities  lies  in  the  establishment  of  ready 
cash  markets  for  the  home-raised  food  and  feed  products  that  the 
the  farmers  produce  and  bring  to  the  towns.  For  such  products  the 
farmers  have  no  ready  cash  markets  at  a  fair  price  and  profit.  Of 
course  they  can  find  sale  for  their  produce  after  peddling  it  from 
house  to  house,  but  what  we  mean  is  an  established  market  which  will 
take  the  products  and  pay  cash  for  them.  How  can  we  expect  the 
farmers  of  the  county  to  raise  food  and  feed  supplies  in  excess  of 
their  own  home  consumption,  if  they  encounter  such  difficulties  in  dis- 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 


25 


posing  of  their  produce  at  profitable  prices?  We,  like  every  other 
county,  farm  or  city,  are  interested  in  the  local  market  problem,  be- 
cause, in  the  first  place,  it  concerns  the  increasing  high  cost  of  living. 
The  cost  of  foodstuff  is  everywhere  higher,  while  the  purchasing  power 
of  the  dollar  is  everywhere  less. 

Co-operation  is  the  necessary  remedy.  The  market  problem  cannot 
be  solved  by  the  producers  alone.  The  problem  is  to  get  producers  and 
consumers  together.  Our  opportunity  is  before  us.  If  every  town  can 
have  an  organized  ready-cash  market,  if  only  a  small  one,  where  the 
farmer  is  assured  of  prompt  sales  of  his  fresh  products,  our  farmers 
will  look  forward  to  their  trips  to  town,  and  will  offer  the  very  best 
supplies,  since  they  are  aware  of  competition  by  other  farmers. 

High  costs  of  living  compel  higher  wages,  as  Adam  Smith  saw  a 
century  or  so  ago.  Higher  wages  mean  an  increase  in  the  labor  cost 
of  production.  When  production  costs  increase,  dividends  on  capital 
dwindle  or  disappear.  No  one  has  a  more  direct  relation  to  the  problem 
of  local  markets  for  home-raised  food  supplies  than  our  mill  owners, 
and  no  one  ought  to  have  a  livelier  interest  in  it. 

Sources  of  Information — Eoanoke  Rapids  Herald,  July,  1918;  1918 
Eeport  of  State  Commissioner  of  Labor  and  Printing ;  letter  corre- 
spondence with  mill  men  in  Halifax;  Eural  Social  Science  Files,  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina. 


IV 

PACTS  ABOUT  THE  FOLKS 


E.  S.  TRAVIS,  JR. 

This  chapter  is  based  upon  the  census  rep&rts  of  1910  and  other 
authoritative  sources  of  information  of  later  dates.  The  chapter  closes 
with  the  usual  table  of  data  that  compares  the  county  with  all  the 
other  counties  in  a  score  or  more  of  important  particulars;  also  with 
itself  over  a  definite  period  of  years,  usually  five  or  ten. 

Illiteracy 

A  fundamental  social  ill  in  Halifax  and  every  other  county  in  the 
state  is  illiteracy.  Ten  of  every  one  hundred  of  our  native  white 
voters  cannot  read  their  ballots  or  write  their  names.  Eighteen 
counties  of  the  state  make  a  better  showing.  Our  average  is  6  per 
cent  greater  than  the  average  for  the  United  States.  It  is  possible 
that  the  moonlight  school  has  somewhat  reduced  the  high  illiteracy  rates 
reported  in  the  1910  census.  Let  us  hope  so.  Our  illiterate  whites  10 
years  old  and  over  in  1910  numbered  866  and  negroes  5,652.  Nearly 
1,000  white  children  6  to  14  years  of  age,  or  35  percent  of  this  age 
group,  were  not  in  school.  The  ratio  of  school  attendance  for  negroes 
was  around  40  per  cent.  In  view  of  these  facts  our  poor  attendance 
takes  on  a  new  and  baleful  significance.  Unless  the  compulsory  school 
law  is  enforced  and  the  parents  of  the  county  cheerfully  co-operate  in 
having  their  children  attend  school  regularly,  we  cannot  hope  to  do 
much  toward  sponging  illiteracy  off  our  map. 

Higher  Tax  Rate  Needed 

An  examination  of  our  school  expenditures  reveals  the  fact  that 
56  other  counties  have  a  higher  school  tax  rate  per  $1,000  worth  of  tax- 
able property  than  Halifax.  We  believe  that  Halifax  receives  as  much 
good  from  what  she  spends  on  schools  as  other  counties,  but  we 
simply  must  have  a  higher  rate  of  taxation  in  order  to  support  our 
schools  and  enable  them  to  do  the  most  efficient  work.  We  sincerely 
believe  that  the  people  of  the  state  are  fast  coming  to  realize  the  fact 
that  more  money  should  be  spent  for  educational  purposes.  It  is  only 
too  true  that  North  Carolina  has  lagged  far  behind  some  of  the  other 
states  in  public  education  and  has  paid  her  teachers  salaries  far  too 
small  to  attract  the  most  efficient  instructors.  We  dare  to  hope 
that  the  people  of  Halifax  will  not  hesitate  in  the  future  to  tax  them- 
selves generously  for  educational  purposes.  They  cannot  fail  to  do  it 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  27 

if  they  realize  that  no  county  can  be  progressive  unless  it  will  levy  a 
tax  rate  high  enough  to  house,  equip,  and  support  its  public  schools 
handsomely. 

A  High  Marriage  Rate 

Halifax  ranks  10th  among  the  counties  in  marriage  rate  per  1,000 
of  population  15  years  old  and  over,  with  14  marriages  per  1,000 
inhabitants  in  1914.  The  state  average  was  11  per  thousand.  Pasquo- 
tank  led  with  24  per  thousand  inhabitants.  Our  large  negro  popu- 
lation probably  accounts  for  a  depressed  marriage  rate  in  Halifax  as 
in  other  eastern  counties. 

Death  Rate  High 

The  death  rate  in  Halifax,  although  steadily  improving,  is  still  too 
high.  In  fact,  only  29  other  counties  in  the  state  had  a  higher  death 
rate  per  1,000  inhabitants  in  1917.  In  that  year  there  were  14.7  deaths 
for  every  1,000  inhabitants.  In  1914  there  were  15,  showing  an  im- 
provement of  only  three-tenths  per  1,000  inhabitants. 

These  figures  show  that  the  health  conditions  in  Halifax  are  far 
from  perfect.  This  is  probably  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  negroes 
in  Halifax  outnumber  the  whites  2  to  1;  and  it  is  a  well-recognized 
fact  that  the  sanitary  and  housing  conditions  of  the  negroes  invite 
disease  and  death.  But  we  also  realize  the  fact  that  much  illness  in 
Halifax  could  be  prevented  by  greater  care  on  the  part  of  individuals, 
and  more  diligent  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  health  authorities.  Here 
is  the  opportunity  for  the  public  health  officer,  working  in  co-operation 
with  the  State  Board  of  Health,  to  render  the  fullest  public  service. 
It  is  a  known  fact  that  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  deaths  which 
occur  are  those  of  babies  under  the  age  of  one  year.  This  is  due  to 
ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  mother  before  birth  of  the  child,  and  to 
unsanitary  conditions  and  improper  after-care  of  babies.  What  is 
needed  is  a  corps  of  rural  public  health  nurses  to  instruct  the  young 
mothers  in  the  care  of  themselves  and  their  children,  and  to  aid  and 
advise  them  during  the  period  prior  to  child-birth. 

Birth   Rate    Increasing 

Halifax  stood  30th  in  birth  rate  in  1917  having  33.9  births  for 
every  1,000  inhabitants.  In  1916  we  stood  65th  with  only  29.3  births 
per  1,000  inhabitants.  The  increase  here  noted  is  encouraging.  It 
may  also  be  noted  that  our  birth  rate  exceeds  our  death  rate  by  19.2 
per  1,000  of  population. 

A  Religious  People 

Halifax  stood  49th  in  church  membership,  with  61  per  cent  of  its 
population  10  years  old  and  over  members  of  some  church.  This  is 
one  point  below  the  state  average  of  62  per  cent.  However,  we  are  not 


28  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

proud  of  the  fact  that  39  per  cent  of  our  people  above  10  years  of 
age  belong  to  no  church  whatsoever.  All  told,  nearly  12,000  people 
of  responsible  ages  were  outside  the  churches  in  Halifax  in  1916.  The 
causes  mainly  are  excessive  farm  tenancy  and  illiteracy.  The  church 
must  help  to  reduce  illiteracy  and  farm  tenancy  in  sheer  self-defense. 
These  are  not  merely  economic  and  social  but  spiritual  ills;  they  are 
the  very  greatest  home  mission  problems  the  church  faces  today,  and 
they  cannot  be  safely  left  to  secular  agencies  alone. 

A  Working   People 

We  need  no  figures  to  prove  that  the  people  of  Halifax  are  an 
industrious  population.  To  be  convinced,  one  only  has  to  watch  the 
great  hordes  pouring  into  our  industrial  plants  in  the  morning  and  out 
at  nightfall.  It  may  be  consoling  to  some,  but  a  warning  to  others, 
to  know  that  only  nine  counties  of  the  state  have  more  female  workers 
in  factories  than  Halifax.  Of  course  there  are  some  who  would  con- 
tend that  this  is  an  undesirable  condition  from  the  point  of  view  of 
health,  but  it  does  not  keep  us  from  taking  our  hats  off  to  the  women 
of  Halifax  who  are  nobly  playing  their  part  in  building  up  our  local 
industries  and  in  providing  for  their  homes.  • 

A   Satisfied   People 

With  conditions  of  this  sort,  no  wonder  our  people  seem  contented. 
So  long  as  we  continue  to  improve  these  various  phases  of  our  social 
and  industrial  life,  we  shall  not  be  bothered  with  the  strikes  and 
troubles  of  the  North  and  West.  So  long  as  one's  surroundings  are 
healthful,  wholesome  and  satisfying,  life  is  worth  while;  but  when 
one's  economic  and  social  conditions  become  intolerable,  strikes  result 
or  death  may  seem  the  only  cure.  The  mill  men  in  Halifax  have  been 
active  in  bettering  the  living  conditions  of  their  workers  and  in  giving 
them  a  square  deal.  Consequently  strikes  are  unheard  of  in  Halifax. 
Industrial  workers  are  well  contented  with  their  lot.  They  are  for  the 
most  part  a  happy  and  satisfied  people. 

Facts   About  the   Folks 

17th     in  size  in  North   Carolina,   acres   432,640 

8th     in    population,    1910    37,646 

8th     in  density  of  rural  population,  per  square  mile 55.7 

7th     in  negro   increase  in  ratio   of   total  population,   1900-10, 

per  cent   .5 

The  increase  was  from  64.1  to  64.6  per  cent. 

In   72   counties  the  negroes  wrere   a   decreasing   ratio   of 

total  population. 

The    negroes    were    an    increasing    ratio    in    25    counties, 
Halifax  being  one  of  these. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  29 

49th     in  church  membership,   10  years  of  age  and  over,  1916, 

per    cent    61 

Non-church  members  above  10  years  of  age,  11,680  in 
number. 

9th     in  state  support  in   1918   $26,895 

This  sum  represents  what  the  county  paid  into  the  state 
treasury  more  than  it  received  in  pensions  and  school 
funds.  Thirty-three  counties  were  dependent. 

20th     in  native  white  illiterates  10  years  old  and  over,  per  cent  8.6 

White    illiterates,    866;     state    average,    12.3    per    cent. 

United  States'  average,  3  per  cent. 
18th     in  native  white  illiterate  voters,  363  in  number,  per  cent         10.3 

State  average,  14  per  cent;  U.  S.  average,  4.2  per  cent. 
10th     in   marriage   rate   per    1,000    of   population    15   years    of 

age    and   over,    1914    13.5 

State  average,  10.1;  Pasquotank,  23.61,  marriages  in 
Halifax,  513. 

71st     in  death  rate  per  1,000  population,  1917  14.7 

30th     in  birth  rate  per  1,000  population,  1917  33.9 

78th     in   suicide,    1917    , 2 

9th     in   female   workers  in  mills,   1915   902 

78th     in   Confederate   pensioners   per    10,000    of   population   in 

1915,    rate    33 

They  were  130  in  1915,  but  only  91  in  1919.  Clay  ranked 
highest  with  166,  and  Bertie,  Pasquotank,  and  Perqui- 
mans  lowest  with  16. 

59th     in  paupers  in  almshouses,  rate  per  100,000  population  104 

Number  in  Halifax  39. 

25th     in  blind  in  N.  C.  State  School,  rate  per  100,000  inhabi- 
tants       :....  10.6 

Sources  of  Information — 1910  Census;  1916  Census  of  Eeligious 
Bodies;  Eeports  of  the  State  Board  of  Health;  1918  Eeport  of  the 
State  Tax  Commission;  Eural  Social  Science  Files,  University  of  North 
Carolina. 


V 

WEALTH  AND  TAXATION 


SIDNEY   B.   ALLEN 

According  to  the  census  of  1910,  the  total  farm  wealth  of  Halifax 
was  $7,737,161.  Total  farm  wealth  covers  the  value  of  farm  lands, 
farm  animals,  building,  and  implements.  It  is  unfortunate  that  the 
1920  figures  are  not  yet  available,  for  they  would  most  assuredly  show 
a  tremendous  increase  in  the  farm  wealth  of  Halifax.  However,  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  we  have  retained  our  rank  in  this  particular.  The 
other  counties  have  increased  their  farm  wealth  since  the  last  census 
and  so  has  Halifax.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  Halifax  has 
not  held  her  place  among  the  first  25  farm  counties  of  the  state. 

In  total  farm  wealth  in  1910  Halifax  ranked  22d  in  the  state. 
This  means  that  only  21  counties  had  greater  wealth  in  farm  properties. 

Between  1900  and  1910  our  farm  wealth  increased  128.2  per  cent 
against  130  per  cent  in  the  state-at-large; 

In  1910  our  per  capita  country  wealth  was  only  $205,  while  that  of 
Alleghany  county  was  $560,  of  the  state  at  large  $322,  and  of  Iowa 
$3,386.  Here  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  neither  Alleghany  county 
nor  Iowa  produces  cotton  or  tobacco,  but  instead  they  devote  their  time 
almost  entirely  to  food  and  feed  crops,  and  livestock.  Manifestly, 
bread-and-meat  farmers  accumulate  wealth  faster  than  cotton  and 
tobacco  farmers. 

Domestic  Animals 

We  experienced  a  notable  gain  in  the  value  of  domestic  animals 
from  1900  to  1910,  the  increase  being  144  per  cent.  This  seems  like 
a  large  increase,  and  yet  we  need  more  and  better  farm  animals  in 
the  county.  Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  placed  upon  the  growing 
necessity  for  larger  numbers  and  better  breeds  of  domestic  animals 
in  Halifax.  In  1910  we  had  less  than  half  or  exactly  44  per  cent 
of  the  farm  animals  that  our  improved  land  would  have  supported 
as  a  lightly-stocked  farm  area. 

We  had  only  47  hogs  for  every  1,000  acres  while  the  state  average 
was  39,  the  United  States  66,  and  Iowa  263.  Our  rank  in  the  number 
of  hogs  per  thousand  acres  in  the  state  is  27th,  there  being  26  counties 
which  raised  more  hogs.  We  need  more  home-raised  meat  for  home 
consumption.  We  need  at  least,  60  to  75  hogs  per  thousand  acres. 
Then  the  money  that  leaves  the  county  each  year  to  supply  the  short- 
age of  2,444,000  pounds  of  meat  could  be  used  for  civic  and  social 
improvements. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY  :  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  31 

A  Coming  Tobacco  County 

Halifax  has  made  great  strides  in  tobacco  production  in  recent 
years.  In  1919  we  ranked  28th  in  tobacco  production  with  a  total  of 
4,101,600  pounds.  The  ten-year  increase  from  1909  to  1919  was  344 
per  cent.  The  1919  crop  sold  for  around  $2,200,000. 

Negro   Farm   Owners 

According  to  the  last  census  72  counties  had  more  negro  farm 
owners  tl  an  Halifax,  only  26  per  cent  of  all  the  negro  farmers  being 
farm  owners,  while  the  state  average  is  33  per  cent.  We  believe  this 
number  has  been  greatly  increased  in  the  last  ten  years.  Only  55 
per  cent  of  the  white  farmers  of  Halifax  own  their  own  farms,  while 
the  state  average  is  65  per  cent.  Evidently  we  are  a  county  of  ex- 
cessive tenancy.  These  figures  show  that  both  the  negro  farmers  and 
the  white  are  not  up  to  the  state  average  in  home  and  farm  ownership. 
More  of  the  farmers  must  own  their  own  farms  or  we  shall  fall  behind 
in  wealth  accumulation  and  civic  and  social  improvement. 

Taxable    Property 

In  1917  our  taxable  property  amounted  to  $19,030,046.  In  this 
particular  we  ranked  8th  in  the  state.  The  increase  in  taxable  prop- 
erty from  1907  to  1917  was  above  the  state  increase.  Our  increase 
was  76  per  cent  while  the  state  increase  was  70  per  cent. 

In  1919  the  total  taxable  wealth  of  Halifax  was  between  $22,000,000 
and  $23,000.000.  Under  the  new  assessment  the  figures  will  go  between 
$60,000,000  and  $65,000,000,  and  the  tax  rate  can  be  reduced  propor- 
tionately. 

State  and  County  Tax  Rate 

Eighty -four  counties  in  the  state  had  a  higher  tax  rate  than  Halifax 
in  1917.  Our  rate,  state  and  county,  was  only  91  2/3  cents  on  each 
hundred  dollars  worth  of  property. 

We  sl'.rr.ld  not  boast  of  the  low  tax  rate  which  we  have.  It  is  not 
to  our  cred  t  to  have  a  low  tax  rate.  It  means  that  the  people  of 
Halifax  are  not  receiving  the  civic  and  social  benefits  derived  from  a 
higher  rate.  A  very  high  rate  is  equally  as  undesirable  as  a  very  low  one. 
but  a  fairl  high  rate  in  our  county  will  put  into  our  hands  the  means 
for  additi  i  al  civic  improvements  and  allow  the  people  to  receive  the 
benefits  tin  other  counties  derive  from  a  higher  rate. 

Full  Assessment  Needed 

Halifax  makes  a  good  record  in  assessing  its  farm  land  for  taxation 
as  compared  with  other  counties.  Only  eighteen  counties  made  a  better 
showing  in  910.  However,  only  54  per  cent  of  the  conservative  census 
value  of  our  farm  lands  was  taxed  in  1910.  For  the  state-at-large 
only  3  is  pes  ent  of  the  census  value  of  the  farm  land  was  taxed. 

3 


32  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

Thus  is  seen  the  urgent  need  of  having  our  properties  of  all  sorts 
more  adequately  taxed.  .It  is  an  open  fact  that  the  major  part  of  our 
property  is  assessed  and  taxed  far  below  its  true  value. 

The  habit  of  dodging  taxes  seems  to  be  ingrained  in  the  people  of 
North  Carolina.  According  to  the  Federal  Census  Bulletin  of  1912,  our 
estimated  actual  wealth  in  North  Carolina  was  one  billion,  800  million 
dollars;  our  aggregate  taxables  were  less  than  800  million  dollars, 
the  difference  being  one  billion  dollars.  This  represents  the  wealth 
which  the  people  of  the  state  swore  they  didn't  have.  This  is  a  crime 
against  civic  righteousness,  education,  and  social  and  civic  development. 

Income  Taxes 

In  state  income  taxes  Halifax  makes  a  very  good  showing.  In  1917 
only  twelve  counties  paid  more  state  income  taxes  than  we,  our  total 
being  $2,234.  In  1914  it  was  $1,019.  Nine  counties  reported  no  income 
tax  at  all  in  1917.  Twenty-nine  counties  paid  more  professional  taxes 
than  Halifax,  the  total  for  1917  being  $260. 

Farm    Mortgages 

In  the  matter  of  farm  mortgages  we  make  only  a  fair  showing. 
Fifty-two  counties  had  a  smaller  per  cent  of  white  farm  mortgages  in 
1910  than  Halifax.  Forty-three  counties  had  a  smaller  per  cent  of 
negro  mortgages  than  we.  Mortgages  are  good  in  one  sense  and  very 
bad  in  another.  If  a  farmer  mortgages  his  farm  for  productive  pur- 
poses he  is  acting  wisely.  But  if  the  farm  is  mortgaged  for  luxuries 
or  for  consumptive  purposes,  then  the  farmer  is  guilty  of  rank  folly. 
By  productive  purposes  is  meant  the  purchase  of  land,  farm  machinery, 
implements,  and  animals,  the  erection  of  better  homes  and  barns,  any- 
thing that  goes  toward  assuring  better  farming  facilities  and  larger 
production.  For  in  this  case  the  increased  production  will  enable  the 
farmer  to  wipe  off  the  mortgage  in  a  short  time.  The  evil  of  the  farm 
mortgagement  lies  in  the  employment  of  it  to  buy  automobiles  and 
other  such  luxuries.  In  this  case  his  farm  is  suffering.  It  may  be  interest- 
ing to  note  that  Iowa,  the  richest  farm  state  in  the  Union,  has  the 
greatest  percentage  of  farm  mortgages.  But  these  mortgages  are  made 
to  enable  the  farmers  to  invest  in  creameries,  silos,  and  grain  elevators, 
better  farm  animals,  and  more  farm  machinery.  Mortgages  for  such 
purposes  are  not  a  disgrace  but  a  sign  of  business  wisdom. 

Facts  About  Wealth  and  Taxables 

22d     in  total  farm  wealth,  1910  census  $7,737,361 

45th     in  farm  wealth  increase  1900-10,  per  cent  128.2 

State  increase  130  per  cent. 
28th     in  tobacco  production,  in  1919,  pounds  4,101,600 

Ten-year   increase  from   1909   to    1919,   344   per   cent. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  33. 

14th     in  increase  in  value  of  domestic  animals,  1900-10,  per 

cent    144 

State  increase   109  per  cent;    Eobeson,   208  per   cent. 

8th     in  total  taxable  property  in  1917  $19,030,046 

Increase  in  taxable  property  1907-17  was  75  per  cent. 
State  increase,  70  per  cent. 

83d     in  per  capita  country  wealth,   1910   $205 

Alleghany,  $560;  state  average,  $322;  U.  S.,  $994; 
Iowa,  $3,386;  per  capita  taxable  wealth,  all  prop- 
erty in  1910  was  $305.  Negro  per  capita  taxable 
wealth  in  1910  was  $38.  White  per  capita  tax- 
able wealth  in  1910  was  $571. 

73d     in  negro  farm  owners,  per  cent  26 

State  ^average  33  per  cent;  negro  farm  owners  in  Hali- 
fax, 742;  white  farm  owners  in  Halifax  are  55  per 
cent  of  all  white  farmers.  In  North  Carolina,  65.5 
per  cent. 

18th     in  tax  rate,  state  and  county,  on  the  $100  in  1917  ....       $.91  2/3 
Eighty -two    counties   have    a   higher    rate;    Yancey   is 

highest  with  $2.48  2/3. 
19th     in    tax    value    of    farm    land;    compared    with    census 

value,    1910,   per    cent    54 

State  average  38  per  cent. 

12th     in  state  income  tax  paid  in  1917   $2,234 

Nine  counties  paid  no  income  tax  in  1917. 

30th     in  professional  taxes  paid  in  1917  $260 

52  lawyers,  doctors,  dentists,  photographers,  archi- 
tects, etc.,  in  Halifax  in  1917. 

53d     in  white  farm  mortgages,  1910,  per  cent  19 

44th     in  negro  farm  mortgages,  1910,  per  cent  27 

State  average  for  negroes   26  per  cent. 

For  both  races  18.5  per  cent  in  North  Carolina. 

in  number  of  miles  of  improved  roads  in  1920  300 

537  miles  are  worked  intermittently. 

33d     in  per  capita  investment  in  automobiles,  June  30,  1918          $18.09 
Only    16    counties    had    more.      There    are    at    present 

around   2,000   autos  in  Halifax. 

Our  investment  in  public  school  property  was  only 
$3.96  per  inhabitant,  or  barely  a  fifth  as  much. 

38th     in  bank  account  savings  per  capita  $]8.00 

State  average  per  capita  $17.86. 
New  Hanover  leads  with   $110.00. 

42d     in  per  capita  bank  loans  and  discounts  in  1915  $30 

Total  $1,254,552.  State  average  $45.  New  Hanover 
led  with  $296  per  capita. 


34  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

46th     in  per  capita  bank  resources  in  1915   $39.20 

State  per  capita  average  $62.95.  New  Hanover  led 
with  $432. 

34th     in  war  thrift,  1918,  per  capita 66.00 

Total  investment  in  Liberty  Loan  bonds,  exclusive 
of  the  first  Liberty  Loan,  in  war  stamps,  and  bank 
account  savings  $2,942,449.  New  Hanover  led  in 
war  thirft  with  $288  per  capita. 

50th     in  per  capita  bank  capital  in  1915  $4.75 

The  per  capita  bank  capital  in  the  United  States  in 
1915  was  $21.46.  In  North  Carolina  it  was  only 
$8.51.  New  Hanover  led  with  $40.06. 

19th     in  third  Liberty  Loan  subscription.     Per  cent  of  popu- 
lation   subscribing    •_..  3.78 

State  average  per  hundred  of  population  3.4.     U.   S. 

average   17.5. 

43d      in  banks  in  1914,  ten  in  number — one  bank  to  the  fol- 
lowing number  of  people   4,984 

The  state  average  was  one  bank  for  every  $4,800 
people  and  the  United  States  average  was  one  for 
every  4,700  people.  Camden,  Currituck  and 
Graham  had  no  banks  in  1914.  Five  new  banks 
have  been  added  since  1914. 

Sources  of  Information — 1910  Census;  1917-18  Eeport  of  the  State 
Tax  Commission;  University  of  North  Carolina  News  Letter;  Eural 
Social  Science  Files,  University  of  North  Carolina. 


VI 

NINE-YEAR  GAINS  IN  RURAL  SCHOOLS 
IN  HALIFAX,  1908-09  TO  1917-18 


R.  S.  TEA  VIS,  JR. 

This  discussion  is  based  as  before  on  the  tables  that  close  this 
chapter. 

Consolidation  of  Schools 

During  the  nine  years  from  1908-09  to  1917-18  progress  in  the 
rural  schools  of  Halifax  has  been  highly  commendable.  We  find  de- 
creases in  only  three  items,  and  one  of  these  indicates  real  progress. 
For  instance,  in  1908-09  there  were  49  rural  white  schools  and  in  1917-18 
there  were  41,  showing  a  decrease  of  17  per  cent.  This  decrease  in 
per  cent  is  a  gain  in  reality,  for  consolidation  of  rural  schools  means 
more  teachers  per  school,  and  better  equipment,  thereby  cutting  out  the 
wasteful,  weak  little  one-teacher  schools,  and  substituting  bigger,  better 
and  more  efficient  ones.  These  little  one-teacher  schools  scattered  all 
over  the  country,  are,  for  the  most  part,  not  worth  their  upkeep.  It 
is  beyond  reason  to  expect  valuable  results  from  a  school  whose  sole 
administrative  department  consists  of  one  teacher,  who,  on  account  of 
the  pitifully  small  salary  offered,  is  usually  a  raw  recruit  with  a  mere 
high  school  education,  or  even  less.  With  seven  grades  to  look  after, 
each  of  which  has  several  classes,  what  attention  do  you  imagine  can  be 
given  by  such  a  teacher  to  the  individual  pupil  in  a  school  of  50? 
Does  it  call  for  a  vivid  imagination  to  see  what  lifeless,  listless  institu- 
tions these  are?  It  is  beyond  comprehension  how  in  1917-18  a  county  of 
the  comparatively  high  standing  of  Halifax  could  allow  thirty  or  three- 
fourths  of  the  41  white  country  schools  to  have  only  one  teacher  each — 
thirty  schools  which  represent  incompetence  in  most  details  of  educa- 
tional importance.  What  Halifax  needs  is  to  abolish  her  one-teacher 
schools  and  establish  in  their  place  a  few  consolidated  schools  of  gen- 
uine worth.  Fifteen  schools  of  this  sort  with  several  teachers  each, 
modern  equipment,  and  transportation  facilities  for  the  pupils  would 
give  Halifax  the  best  educational  system  in  the  state.  These  districts 
should  be  supplemented  by  at  least  five  standard  high  schools  which 
could  furnish  the  pupils  of  the  county  with  sufficient  education  1o 
enable  them  to  enter  any  college  or  university. 

Thanks  to  the  untiring  efforts  of  our  wide-awake  county  superin- 
tendent, Prof.  A.  E.  Akers,  Halifax  has  made  considerable  progress  in 
recent  years  towards  consolidation.  During  1917-18  four  little  schools 
were  absorbed  by  consolidated  schools  and  more  recently  eleven  trucks 
have  been  put  into  operation  to  carry  children  back  and  forth  from 


36  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

the  schools.  Since  then  other  districts  have  been  consolidated.  The 
visible  result  of  these  elections,  the  last  of  which  was  held  in  Novem- 
ber, 1918,  is  that  we  now  have  two  5-room  schools,  one  with  4  rooms, 
eight  with  3  rooms,  seven  with  2  rooms,  and  fourteen  with  1  room,  as 
against  37  one-room,  6  two-room,  and  2  three-room  schools,  in  1916. 
Twenty-five  standard  class  rooms  have  been  provided  with  proper  floor 
and  cubic  space,  all  well  lighted,  and  equipped  with  good  blackboards, 
single  steel  standard  desks,  and  standard  heating  and  ventilating  sys- 
tems. All  the  larger  schools  have  convertible  assembly  rooms. 

Attendance 

During  the  scholastic  year  1917-18,  Halifax  stood  fourth  from  the 
bottom  in  white  rural  school  attendance  on  enrollment,  with  a  per- 
centage* of  only  52.9,  only  a  little  more  than  half  the  enrollment  being 
present  each  day!  This  does  not  include  a  large  number  of  children 
of  school  age  who  were  not  even  enrolled.  Is  it  not  startling?  In  a 
state  which  has  a  compulsory  school  law  where  does  the  fault  lie  in  our 
low  percentage  of  school  enrollment  and  attendance?  It  is  clear  that  this 
law  was  not  being  enforced  in  1916  and  that  the  parents  of  the 
children  and  the  public  officials  charged  to  enforce  the  law  have  been 
at  fault. 

What  Absences  Mean 

In  this  brief  treatment  it  is  impossible  to  discuss  this  topic  fully. 
We  can  merely  suggest  and  leave  the  reader  to  think  it  over. 

1.  The   child   that   is   allowed   to   be   absent   from   school   when   he- 
could  possibly  be  there  is  establishing  a  bad  habit  from  which  he  will 
suffer  all  his  life  long. 

2.  The  constant  absentee  nearly  always  'gets  out  of  gear  with  the 
school,   falls  behind  in   his   classes,   loses   interest   and   then   drops    out 
to  repeat  the  same  thing  next  year. 

3.  Absentees   retard   the   progress   of   the   class.      This   means   that 
those  who  attend  regularly  lose  because  of  the  absence  of  others.     For 
this   reason   every   parent   interested    in   his   child's   welfare    should    do 
what  he  can  to  encourage  regular  attendance  on  the  part  of  his  neigh- 
bor 's   children. 

4.  Absentees  greatly  increase  the  taxpayers  burden,  and  become  a. 
tremendous  financial  loss  to  the  child  himself. 

It  is  up  to  the  parents  to  improve  this  condition,  and  help  their 
children,  themselves,  and  their  county.  . 

Consolidation  is  already  having  a  telling  effect  in  Halifax.  In  1915- 
16  only  69.5  per  cent  of  the  school  population  was  enrolled  and  only 
47  per  cent  of  these  were  in  average  daily  attendance.  In  December, 
1919,  81.9  per  cent  was  enrolled,  and  71.5  per  cent  of  these  were  in 
average  daily  attendance.  The  best  argument  for  consolidation  and 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  37 

transportation  is  the  71.5  per  cent  attendance  in  1919  over  the  47  per 
cent    in    1915-16. 

Teachers 

Without  the  vitalizing  touch  of  a  properly  qualified  teacher,  houses, 
grounds,  and  schoolrooms  are  dead,  soulless  mechanisms.  The  real 
teacher  breathes  life  and  spirit  into  the  school.  Better  schools  are 
impossible  without  these  inspired,  capable  teachers,  and  these  teachers 
are  impossible  without  more  pay.  Country  teachers  in  North  Carolina 
are  paid  mere  pittances.  Halifax  stood  8th  in  the  state  in  salaries 
paid  white  teachers  in  1917-18,  with  an  average  of  $440.92.  Compara- 
tively speaking,  this  salary  is  good,  but  still  it  is  pitifully  small  when 
the  services  rendered  are  considered.  By  the  way,  New  Hanover,  which 
leads  the  state  in  this  particular,  pays  her  white  teachers  less  than  the 
average  paid  common  school  teachers  in  the  United  States.  Efficient 
teachers  cannot  be  obtained  or  held  with  such  salaries.  It  is  human 
nature  and  a  fundamental  principle  of  economics  that  the  best  teachers 
go  to  the  best  salaries — or  quit  teaching  to  enter  more  lucrative  employ- 
ment, as  two -thirds  of  them  did  in  North  Carolina  last  year.  Let  us 
get  the  best  teachers  and  hold  them  by  increasing  their  salaries. 

Better  Prepared  Teachers 

While  the  number  of  our  teachers  has  been  increased  46.2  per  cent,- 
there  has.  been  a  decrease  of  8  per  cent  in  the  number  having  4  years 
experience.  This  shows  a  discouraging  decrease  in  the  quality  of  our 
teachers.  Proper  training  and  experience  are  the  things  which  count 
m:st  in  the  teaching  profession.  Here  again  increased  salaries  suggest 
a  way  out.  These  salaries  have  increased  98.9  per  cent  in  9  years,  but 
living  costs  have  increased  far  beyond  the  salary  increases.  Teachers 
are  actually  getting  less  than  nine  years  ago,  the  purchasing  power  of 
the  dollar  considered.  In  1919-20  rural  Halifax  is  employing  65  teachers 
for  her  white  schools.  Sixteen  of  these  are  normal  graduates  and  ten 
are  graduates  from  A  and  B  colleges.  Twenty  are  graduates  of  high 
schools  and  have  attended  summer  schools.  Fifty-six  hold  state  cer- 
tificates and  nine  hold  second-grade  and  provisional  certificates. 

Is  there  any  class  of  people  with  equal  preparation  anywhere  that 
receives  the  same  pay  as  these  65  white  teachers?  The  county  superin- 
tendent is  fighting  against  odds  trying  to  hold  these  teachers.  He 
says  that  securing  teachers  for  the  year  1919-20  was  the  hardest  fight 
of  his  life.  Is  it  not  the  people's  business  to  provide  adequate  school 
funds I 

Need  of  a  County  Bond  Issue 

Only  9  counties  stood  ahead  of  us  in  total  taxable  wealth  in 
1917,  yet  43  counties  had  more  money  than  Halifax  invested  in  rural 
school  property  in  1918.  In  amount  spent  on  buildings  and  supplies 


38  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

for  the  year  1917-18  we  stood  8th.     We  stood  56th  in  local  school  tax 
rate,  county  and  special,  in   1917-18  with  $5.12  on  the  $1,000. 

The  county  needs  more  money  to  consolidate  the  little  schools,  to 
operate  an  effective  school  system,  to  make  the  schools  more  attractive, 
to  prevent  illiteracy,  and  to  obtain  the  best  teachers.  There  is  an  act 
to  permit  counties,  townships,  and  certain  school  districts  to  issue 
bonds  with  which  to  build  school  houses.  In  the  cities  and  towns  of 
Halifax  county  this  is  being  done;  why  cannot  our  county  rural  dis- 
tricts have  a  like  privilege?  Cities  can  issue  and  are  issuing  bonds  to 
build  school  houses.  The  county  must  do  it  with  increasing  frequency. 
With  enough  money  the  country  school  will  not  be  handicapped  and  its 
very  soul  can  be  expressed.  Our  county  is  blessed  with  a  remarkably 
wide-awake,  progressive,  and  far-seeing  county  superintendent.  Let  the 
people  back  him  up  with  both  moral  and  financial  support  and  let  Hali- 
fax have  what  her  superintendent  wants,  the  best  county  school  system 
in  North  Carolina. 

Negro  Schools  in  Halifax 

(Extract  from  speech  made  at  National  Eural  Consolidation  Conference, 
Cedar  Falls,  Iowa.) 

"We -have  two  distinct  school  systems  in  North  Carolina  with  110 
apologies.  The  law  provides  that  there  shall  be  equal  length  terms, 
uniform  compulsory  attendance,  and  that  though  taught  in  separate 
schools  'there  shall  be  no  discrimination  in  favor  or  prejudice 'of  either 
race.'  You  will  note  that  these  schools  are  run  for  the  same  length 
term  but  in  different  buildings.  In  most  places  the  law  is  followed 
very  well.  In  Halifax  county  we  employ  a  Jeanes  supervisor,  Avho  lias 
charge  of  all  manual  training  work,  domestic  science  classes  and  health 
organizations.  There  have  been  as  many  school  rooms  erected  for  the 
colored  people  since  1915  as  for  the  white  race.  These  buildings  are 
not  cheapened  any,  except  we  do  not  use  storm  sheeting  and  paper. 
As  to  light,  pitch  of  ceiling  and  size  of  the  rooms,  they  are  standard. 

"In  1918-1919  the  negro  population  6  to  21  years  for  the  county 
was  6,942.  We  enrolled  5,334  and  there  were  present  every  day  2,653. 
These  children  attended  67  schools  ranging  from  one  room  to  five  rooms. 
There  wrere  59  one-room  schools  and  7  with  two  and  more  rooms. 

' '  The  highest  salary  paid  a  negro  teacher  is  $90.00,  the  lowest 
$45.00.  The  average  is  greater  than  was  paid  white  teachers  in  1915- 
1916.  The  systems  for  the  races  are  entirely  separate,  but  the  work 
of  the  superintendent  is  about  as  heavy  for  one  race  as  for  the  other. 
The  colored  supervisor  has  charge  of  the  teacher  training  work,  but 
the  superintendent  attends  the  teachers'  meetings  and  joins  in  the 
discussions. 

"A  long  story  can  be  told  of  the  interest  and  efforts  of  the  Negro 
race  in  Halifax  countv.  There  are  fourteen  communities  in  which  the 


HALIFAX  COUNTY  :  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 


39 


colored  patronage  has  raised  $500.00  among  themselves  and  asked  for 
aid  from  the  Julius  Rosenwald  Fund.  They  have  not  been  turned  down. 

' '  Mr.  George  Eastman,  Kochester,  N.  Y.,  is  paying  one-half  the 
cost  of  a  beautiful  five-room  building  for  the  negroes  near  a  farm  he 
owns  in  the  county  and  70%  of  the  cost  of  the  furniture  that  goes 
in  it.  Our  negro  problems  are  interesting  and  they  are  very  responsive. 
They  realize  the  need  for  education  and  are  willing  to  do  their  part. 

' l  Theodore  Eoosevelt  was  right  when  he  said :  '  This  country  will 
not  be  a  good  place  for  any  of  us  to  live  in  unless  we  make  it  a  good 
place  for  all  to  live  in.' 

' '  Again  in   the  language   of   Edwin   Markham : 

"We  all  are  blind  unless  we  see 

That,  in  the  human  plan, 
Nothing  is  worth  the  making  if 
It  does  not  make  the  man. 

Why  build  these  cities  glorious 

If  man  unbuilded  goes? 
In  vain  we  build  the  world  unless 

The   builder   also   grows. ' ' 
— A.  E.  Akers,  county  superintendent  of  schools. 

NINE-YEAR    GAINS    IN    HALIFAX    RURAL    SCHOOLS, 

1908-09—1917-18 

9- Year  Gains 

1908-09  1917-18         Percent 

Eaised    by    local    tax    $23,590  $42,429  79.8 

Spent  for  teachers  and  supervision  ....$23,670  $43,503  100.7 

Spent  for  buildings  and   supplies   $2,165  $13,624  66.4 

Spent    on   administration $1,168  $3,901  149.2 

Total    school    population    9,009  10,143  12.5 

Total   school  enrollment    6,120  7,301  19 

Per   cent   of   enrollment   67  72  5 

Average    daily    attendance 3,047  3,582  17.5 

Per  cent  average  daily  attendance  ....       33.8  35.3  1.5 

Average    annual    salaries,    white    $236.81  $471.0.5  98.9 

Total  value  of  school  property,  white..$13,310  $45,050  238.4 

Total  value  of  school  property,  col $9,470  $20,300  114.3 

Number    of   rural   white   schools    49  41  17.* 

Number   of  local   tax   districts   4  18  350 

Number  having  two   or  more  white 

teachers    5  11  120 

Per  cent  having  two  or  more  white 

teachers    .                                                      10  27  17 


40 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 


79 
12 

2 

45 
35 

2 

$6,000 


46.2- 

54.* 

82.* 

7.1 

8 


Total    number    of    white    teachers    54 

Number  having  4  years'  experience  ....          26 

Number   having    college    diplomas    11 

Number  white  school  houses   (rural)   ~          42 

Number  having  patent  desks  33 

Number  new  white  schools  

Cost  of  new  white  schools  

NOTE: — Asterisk    (*)    means   decrease. 

Rank  of  Halifax  in  School  Matters 

The  figures  at  the  left  indicate  the  number  of  counties  that  make 
a  better  showing. 

in   per   capita   expenditures   for   schools  in    1917-18  $3.38 

Per  capita  investment  in  automobiles   $18.09. 

9th     in   total  taxable   Avealth   in   1917    $19,030,046 

83d     in  per  capita  rural  wealth,  1910  $205 

State  average  $322;  Iowa,  $3,386;  U.  S.  $994. 

49th     in  investment  in  rural  school  property,  1918  $65,350 

Buncombe   first  with   investment   of   $343,805. 

8th     in  amount  spent  on  buildings  and  supplies,  1918  ....        $14,370.81 
Buncombe  first  with  $56,632.34. 

8th     in    salaries   paid   white   teachers,    1917-18    $440.92 

State  average  $323;  U.  S.  average  $606;  New 
Hanover  first  with  $580.36. 

7,2d     in  local  tax  districts,   1917-18,  per   cent  16.3 

Out   of    110    districts,    white   and    colored,    only    18 

levied  a  special  tax. 
71st     in    total    revenue    from    local    rural    district    taxes, 

1917-18    $3,440.41 

Apportionment      from      equalizing      fund,      1917-18 

$4,995.10. 
96th     in  rural  white  schools  having  two  or  more  teachers, 

1915-16,    per    cent    20 

In  1917-18,  73  per  cent  of  rural  schools  had  only 
one  teacher,  26.9  per  cent  having  two  or  more 
teachers,  and  we  ranked  91st  in  the  state.  In 
1917-18  out  of  41  rural  white  schools  30  had  only 
one  teacher.  In  1920  there  are  only  14  one-room 
schools,  7  two-room,  8  three-room,  1  four-room, 
and  2  five-room  schools. 

96th     in  school  attendance  on  enrollment,  1917-18,  per  cent  52.9 

State  average  68.8  per  cent.  In  December,  1919, 
81.9  per  cent  were  enrolled  and  the  attendance  on 
enrollment  was  71.5  per  cent. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 


41 


95th     in  average   expenditures  per  high  school  pupil  en- 
rolled,   1915-16    $8.37 

State   average    $25.92. 

Average     expenditures     per     rural     pupil     enrolled, 

1917-18,   $9.38. 
56th     in    local    school    tax    rate    per    $1,000    of    taxable 

property,    1917-18    $5.12 

Scotland   $7.44;    state   average   $5.10. 

Sources  of  Information — Beports  of  the  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction;  1918  Eeport  of  State  Tax  Commission;  1910  Cen- 
sus; Rural  Social  Science  Files,  University  of  North  Carolina. 


WHITE  SCHOOL*. 

Oe  fo«i*  JBAHtM 
TTvofooM  IN  VSE 


Inserted  by  courtesy  of  Superintendent  A.   E.   Akers. 


VII 

FARM  CONDITIONS  AND  PRACTICES 


SIDNEY    B.    ALLEN 

At  the  close  of  this  discussion  will  be  found  a  table  worked  out  of 
the  1910  census  and  other  authoritative  sources  of  information.  Con- 
cerning some  items  in  the  table  we  have  been  able  to  obtain  very  recent 
figures  and  as  far  as  possible  these  have  been  used.  This  table  shows 
(1)  certain  fundamental  facts  about  Halifax  set  over  against  similar 
facts  about  other  counties  and  the  state  at  large;  and  (2)  how  the 
county  stands  when  compared  with  itself  over  a  term  of  years,  usuallj 
five  or  ten. 

The  reader  is  asked  to  study  carefully  this  and  similar  tables  closing 
other  chapters  in  this  bulletin. 

Halifax    Predominantly   Agricultural 

In  our  discussion  of  Halifax  and  her  problems  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  our  county  is  a  great  agricultural  county — predominantly  so. 
There  were  only  two  counties  in  the  state  that  produced  greater  farm 
wealth  in  1910  than  Halifax.  The  grand  total  covered  both  crop  and 
livestock  products  and  amounted  to  $3,766,186.  These  figures  are 
highly  gratifying.  We  note  that  fifty-nine  per  cent  of  this  total  wealth 
was  produced  by  non-food  crops,  such  as  cotton,  tobacco,  etc. 

But  the  vital  question  is,  how  much  of  this  farm  wealth  do  the 
farmers  retain?  It  is  foolish  and  pitiful  to  produce  great  wealth  and 
then  let  it  slip  through  our  fingers  and  go  to  enrich  the  western 
farmers  who  produce  the  bulk  of  the  food  and  feed  that  our  farm 
animals  and  our  farm  folks  consume  year  by  year. 

What  our  farmers  do  is  this:  they  create  cotton  and  tobacco  wealth 
and  then  spend  it  to  buy  the  actual  necessities  of  life.  Experiments 
made  by  the  government  have  proven  that  the  man  who  raises  food  and 
feed  crops  along  with  his  cotton  and  tobacco  is  invariably  in  a  much 
better  condition  than"  his  neighbor  who  raises  cotton  and  tobacco  and 
buys  food  and  feed.  The  government,  by  its  experiments,  has  also 
proved  that  hay,  forage,  corn,  pork  and  beef  can  be  produced  in  the 
South  today  more  cheaply  than  in  the  West.  Thus,  if  the  farmer 
raises  his  own  home  necessities,  he  is  saved  from  the  exorbitant  profits 
of  the  middlemen  and  adds  to  his  own  bank  account. 

Many  farmers  contend  that  it  is  more  profitable  to  raise  cotton  and 
tobacco  and  buy  feed  for  their  animals  and  food  for  their  homes. 
We  think  most  of  them  will  agree  with  us  that  it  is  cheaper  to  produce 
these  supplies  than  to  buy  them  at  the  stores  at  present  prices. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY  :  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  43 

We  are  not  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  great  profit  has  been  realized 
by  the  farmers  from  raising  cotton  and  tobacco  during  the  last  three 
or  four  years,  and  we  do  not  by  any  means  urge  the  neglect  of  these 
two  big  money  crops,  but  we  wish  to  emphasize  the  wisdom  of  greater 
attention  to  food  and  feed  crops  and  to  livestock. 

Food  Crops  and  Farm  Wealth 

The  total  farm  wealth  of  Halifax  county  in  1910  amounted  to 
$7,737,161.  Twenty-one  counties  of  the  state  had  greater  farm  wealth. 
The  farm  wealth  produced  in  1910  amounted  to  $3,766,000.  This 
means  that  every  two  years  the  farmers  produce  nearly  as  much  wealth 
as  they  have  been  able  to  accumulate  in  152  years! 

Halifax's  crop-yielding  power  per  acre  in  1910  was  $18.63.  Here 
we  are  below  the  state  average,  which  was  $20.18  in  1914.  The  aver- 
age for  the  United  States  in  1914  was  $16.34.  However,  our  ,-rop- 
yielding  power  is  substantially  good.  Only  28  counties  made  a  better 
showing  in  1910.  Our .  crop-yielding  power  was  $4.67  per  uer-j  above 
the  average  of  Missouri  in  1914;  $5.44  above  that  of  Minnesota;  $7.53 
above  that  of  North  Dakota,  and  $7.84  above  that  of  South 
Dakota.  These  states  all  engage  in  medium  or  large-scale  agriculture, 
producing  small  values  per  acre  but  great  totals  per  worker;  they  all 
use  improved  farm  machinery  extensively,  thus  lowering  the  labor  cost 
and  widening  the  margin  of  profits.  Hence  they  accumulate  farm 
wealth  faster  than  we  do  or  can  even  with  the  present  high  prices 
of  cotton  and  tobacco. 

In  the  annual  production  of  farm  wealth  per  inhabitant,  we  were 
a  little  above  the  average  for  the  state  at  large  in  1910,  namely  $100 
against  the  state  average  of  $85,  and  $126  for  the  French  farmers. 
Thirty-one  counties  had  a  better  record  than  Halifax  in  this  particular. 
High  prices  for  farm  products  in  1919  ran  the  average  up  to  $830  per 
farm  worker  for  North  Carolina. 

We  occupy  a  middle  ground  with  respect  to  other  counties  in  the 
matter  of  food  and  feed  production  per  inhabitant,  ranking  50th  in  this 
particular.  Our  production  of  food  and  feed  in  1910  was  $45  per 
inhabitant.  Our  need  was  for  $84  per  person  per  year.  Thus  we 
have  a  deficit  of  $39  per  person,  or  a  total  deficit  of  two  and  a  quarter 
million  dollars.  Or  such  was  the  deficit  before  the  present  inflated 
prices.  Today  the  needs  and  deficits  are  far  greater  than  the  pre-war 
figures. 

That  our  food  and  feed  crops  constituted  only  41  per  cent  of 
our  total  crop  values  is  not  a  matter  of  pride.  Our  rank  in  1910  was 
71st,  which  means  that  seventy  counties  have  higher  food  and  feed  crop 
ratios.  Alleghany  stood  first  in  this  particular,  with  89  per  cent, 
while  the  state  average  was  47  per  cent,  or  6  per  cent  above  that  of 
Halifax.  We  emphasize  again  the  fact  that  food  production  means  farm 


44  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

Avealth  accumulation.  Alleghany  is  the  richest  county  in  the  state  in  per 
capita  country  wealth,  and  it  is  first  in  the  ratio  of  its  food  and  feed 
crops  to  total  crop  values. 

Non-Food  Crops 

The  value  of  the  non-food  crops  produced  in  1910  was  $2,050,782. 
Two  non-food  crops,  cotton  and  tobacco,  produced  wealth  to  the 
amount  of  more  than  7  million  dollars  in  1919.  By  non-food  crops  is 
meant  crops  that  do  not  serve  as  food  for  man  or  beast.  The  two 
main  non-food  crops  produced  in  Halifax  are  cotton  and  tobacco.  Of 
the  total  crop  of  the  county  the  non-food  cnps  produced  59 
per  cent.  The  state  average  of  non-food  crops  is  53  per  cent. 

Cotton 

In  cotton  production  our  rank  is  high.  In  1918,  while  the  war  was 
in  full  swing,  we  produced  37,140  bales  of  cotton  and  only  four  counties 
in  the  state  produced  more.  In  1919,  after  the  war,  our  production 
fell  to  27,862  bales  with  seven  counties  producing  more  than  Halifax. 
The  1919  cotton  crop  sold  for  around  5  million  dollars,  not  counting 
the  seed. 

Tobacco 

Halifax  has  come,  in  the  last  few  years,  to  be  a  great  tobacco - 
producing  county.  In  1919  we  produced  4,101,680  pounds,  and  only 
27  counties  produced  more.  Our  increase  from  1909  to  1919  was  344 
per  cent.  This  means  that  more  wealth  has  come  into  the  hands  of 
the  farmers,  and  that  they  are  in  a  better  condition  to  support  good 
roads,  good  schools,  better  teachers  for  the  rural  schools,  and  to  take 
part  to  a  greater  degree  in  all  kinds  of  civic  improvement  in  Halifax. 
The  day  is  not  far  distant  when  Halifax  will  rank  with  the  two  or 
three  best  tobacco  counties  in  the  state.  The  great  increase  in  the  pro- 
duction of  the  last  few  years  indicates  this  clearly. 

Cultivated  Land  and  Idle  Land 

Fifty-seven  per  cent  of  the  land  in  Halifax  is  idle,  that  is,  it  is 
cut-over  or  wilderness  land  not  in  use  for  farm  purposes.  This 
leaves  only  43  per  cent  of  our  total  land  area  under  cultivation.  Our 
rank  in  this  particular  is  high,  however,  there  being  only  14  counties 
of  the  state  with  a  greater  per  cent  of  their  land  under  cultivation. 
But  the  fact  that  over  half  of  our  land  is  not  under  cultivation,  but  is 
in  idle  wilderness,  shows  that  our  land  is  not  being  used  to  the  best 
advantage  and  that  we  have  not  reached  the  limit  of  our  ability  to 
sustain  population.  There  is  room  for  a  large  increase  in  our  farm 
population.  In  1910  we  had  }84,938  acres  under  cultivation  and  247,702 
acres  of  idle  wildnerness.  Eeserving  50,000  acres  for  wood-lot  purposes 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  45 

and  allowing  75  acres  to -each  family,  there  is  room  for  2,640  new  farm 
families  in  the  county.  We  need  this  increase  in  farm  population  for 
we  need  to  put  into  action  the  invested  millions  now  lying  idle  in  our 
wilderness  acres. 

Ranks  High  in  Number  of   Farms 

We  should  be  proud  of  our  standing  in  the  number  of  farms  in  the 
county.  According  to  the  last  census  we  had  4,295  farms  and  this 
number  was  surpassed  by  only  8  counties  in  the  state.  The  average 
number  of  cultivated  acres  per  farm  was  43.1.  The  size  of  cultivated 
farms  was  larger  in  only  13  counties.  There  were  2,641  farms  over 
50  acres  in  size,  both  cultivated  and  uncultivated  acres  considered. 

We  see  here  that  our  farms  are  too  small.  The  farmers  farm  on 
too  small  a  scale.  We  shall  never  become  the  well-to-do,  independent 
farm  people  that  we  should  be  until  we  farm  on  a  larger  scale.  We 
need  to  put  capital,  brains,  energy,  and  business  skill  into  our  farming 
system  just  as  our  cotton  mill  men  and  railroad  owners  do  into  their 
TDusiness. 

Livestock   Status:     Farms   Too   Lightly  Stocked 

Only  12  counties  of  the  state  suffered  a  greater  loss  in  poultry 
production  than  did  Halifax  from  1900  to  1910,  the  decrease  being 
20.5  per  cent.  Eighty-seven  counties  either  increased  in  poultry  or  had 
a  smaller  decrease  in  fowls  during  this  period.  We  ranked  26th  in  the 
number  of  fowls  on  hand.  Doubtless  the  present  high  prices  of  poultry 
and  eggs  have  greatly  stimulated  the  interest  of  our  farmers  in  these 
profitable  side  lines.  Every  farmer  in  Halifax  would  be  wise  to  stock 
his  farm  with  good  poultry. 

In  1910  the  state  average  of  hogs  per  one  thousand  acres  was  39. 
The  United  States  average  for  the  same  year  was  66,  and  that  of  Iowa 
263.  We  find  that  we  stand  above  the  state  average,  having  47  to 
every  one  thousand  acres.  However,  our  rank  wras  27th,  which  means 
that  26  counties  had  more  hogs  per  1,000  acres.  With  a  meat  deficit 
of  2,444,000  pounds  yearly  we  should  be  wise  to  pay  more  attention 
to  meat  production. 

Our  decrease  in  swine  during  the  period  from  1900  to  1910  was 
3  per  cent.  There  Avere  69  counties  of  the  state  that  experienced 
decreases  in  swine  during  this  period  and  only  28  counties  showed  an 
increase.  Thirty-two  counties  made  greater  gains  or  experi- 
enced smaller  decreases  than  Halifax.  The  value  of  home-raised  meats 
is  known  to  every  one  and  this  subject  need  not  be  enlarged  upon  here. 
But  with  the  present  exorbitant  prices  of  pork,  let  us  hope  that  we 
shall  have  a  tremendous  increase  in  pork  production.  Prevailing 
1  rices  certainly  afford  a  sufficient  stimulus. 


46  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

In  our  standing  in  the  number  of  cattle  per  one  thousand  acres 
there  is  no  ground  for  boasting.  We  find  we  are  below  the  state 
average.  The  state  average  in  the  census  year  ]910  was  23  per  1,000 
acres,  while  our  number  was  21  per  1,000  acres.  The  United  States 
average  was  61.  Fifty-two  counties  showed  a  better  record  than  Hali- 
fax. Our  increase  in  cattle  in  the  last  census  period  was  only  5  per 
cent.  Sixty-seven  counties  made  a  greater  increase.  The  state  average 
increase  was  12  per  cent. 

Our  sheep  loss  of  50  per  cent  from  1900  to  1910  is  astonishingly 
high.  Fifty-two  counties  suffered  a  smaller  loss  than  we  and  therefore 
made  a  better  showing.  Our  loss  was  1,233  sheep.  In  1860  Halifax 
had  4,351  sheep  while  in  1910  she  had  only  1,202. 

Our  farmers  ought  to  bear  in  mind  that  whether  we  consider  the 
state  or  the  United  States,  we  invariably  find  that  high  per  capita 
country  wealth  goes  hand  in  hand  with  an  abundance  of  domestic 
animals  and  a  substantial  production  of  food  and  feed  crops,  and  that 
low  per  capita  wealth  is  always  found  where  farm  animals  and  home- 
raised  necessities  are  lacking.  In  1910  we  were  77  per  cent  below  the 
level  of  even  a  lightly-stocked  farm  area,  which  means  one  animal  unit 
for  every  5  acres.  Fifty-two  counties  outranked  us  in  this  respect. 

Horse  Power 

We  find  that  Halifax  ranks  comparatively  low  in  horse  power  on 
the  farms,  67  counties  being  ahead  of  us  in  this  particular.  With  one 
work-animal  for  an  average  of  28.82  acres  in  1910  we  fell  below  the 
state  average,  which  was  one  work-animal  for  an  average  of  25.85  acres. 
The  average  for  the  United  States  was  19.81  acres  for  each  work- 
animal. 

Farm  Implements 

In  farm  implements  per  acre  our  standing  was  low  at  the  1910  census 
period.  Our  investment  per  acre  at  that  time  was  only  $1.91,  and  63 
counties  of  the  state  stood  ahead  of  us.  The  state  average  was  $2.10. 
Of  course  if  the  figures  for  the  present  year  were  available  they  would 
show  that  we  have  a  higher  rank,  due  to  our  use  of  Fordson  tractors, 
trucks,  and  other  modern  farm  machinery  on  the  farms  of  Halifax. 

The  Evil  of  Farm  Tenancy 

Everyone  should  be  aware  of  the  evils  of  farm  tenancy,  and  the 
farmers  of  Halifax  should  take  this  matter  in  hand  and  try  to  improve 
our  standing  in  this  respect.  The  history  of  farming  clearly  shows  that 
no  community  ever  reaches  the  highest  stage  of  agricultural  develop- 
ment and  achievement  until  the  farms  are  operated  mainly  by  the 
owners.  The  average  tenant  is  such  because  economic  conditions  pre- 
vent him  from  buying  land,  or  he  is  lacking  either  in  industry,  thrift 


HALIFAX  COUNTY  :  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  47 

or  sagacity.  Since  he  moves  frequently  he  has  little  interest  in  soil 
building  or  soil  preservation,  and  hence  makes  little  or  no  preparation 
in  fall  for  his  next  crop.  Living  on  the  crop-lien,  supply-merchant 
plan,  he  is  forced  to  devote  his  attention  to  ready-money  crops  to  the 
neglect  of  food  and  feed  stuffs  and  livestock.  Then,  also,  not  being 
in  one  place  for  any  great  length  of  time,  the  tenant  has  no  inclination  to 
beautify  his  home  and  premises,  and  his  interest  in  helping  to  maintain 
good  schools,  churches,  roads,  and  law  and  order  in  his  community  is 
naturally  at  a  very  low  ebb.  An  abiding  interest  in  community  life 
cannot  exist  among  people  who  are  constantly  moving  about.  In  1910 
almost  two-thirds,  64.2  per  cent,  of  our  farmers  were  tenants.  Eighty- 
eight  counties  had  smaller  per  cents  of  tenants  than  we.  The  state 
average  was  42.3  per  cent.  However,  during  the  census  period  1900 
to  1910  we  had  a  one  per  cent  decrease  in  tenants,  indicating  that  a 
few  of  our  landless  farmers  came  into  possession  of  farms.  During  this 
period  49  counties  increased  in  farm  tenancy  and  47  counties  decreased. 
In  1910  the  white  tenants  of  Halifax  numbered  601,  while  the  negro 
tenants  numbered  2,158.  Our  landless,  homeless  tenants  and  their 
families  numbered  about  13,800  souls.  Of  these  766  tenants  were 
croppers,  and  1,927  were  cash  or  standing  rent  tenants.  Tenants,  for 
the  most  part,  raise  cotton  and  tobacco  and  neglect  the  all-important  food 
and  feed  crops.  We  do  not  mean  to  shower  this  unfortunate  class  with 
unqualified  condemnation;  they  need  the  encouragement  and  the  unselfish 
co-operation  of  fortunate  land  owners.  The  tenants  need  to  buy  and 
maintain  their  own  farms  and  devote  their  entire  energies  to  the  better- 
ment of  their  farms  and  country  communities.  But  many  of  them, 
seemingly,  find  this  an  unsurmountable  task. 

Helping   Tenants   to   Buy  Farms 

The  average  tenant  finds  himself  unable  to  pay  for  a  farm  when 
he  wishes  to  buy  one  and  locate  himself  permanently.  There  are 
always  land  owners  in  every  community  who  have  surplus  cash  as  well 
as  idle  land,  and  they  should  give  aid  to  the  deserving  home-seeker. 
They  can  lend  him  the  money  with  which  to  purchase  a  farm,  and  fre- 
quently they  do  so. 

There  is  a  great  amount  of  land  in  North  Carolina  owned  by  well- 
to-do  absentee  landlords  living  in  towns  or  in  other  counties  or  states, 
who  are  holding  their  lands  out  of  productive  use  for  higher  prices.  In 
such  cases  where  the  owners  will  not  sell  at  reasonable  prices,  a  little 
legislation  may  help  matters  v  onderf ully.  A  higher  tax  on  land  not 
under  cultivation  by  owners  wo/."*  be  a  step  in  the  right  direction.  This 
tax  could  be  so  graduated  that  the  more  land  the  absentee  landlord 
owns  the  higher  rate  he  must  pay,  as  in  Australia,  New  Zealand  and 
some  of  the  Canadian  provinces.  Such  legislation  would  render  un- 
profitable large  holdings  not  operated  by  the  owners,  and  thus  force 


48  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

the  land  on  the  market  for  those  who  will  develop  neglected  areas  into 
productive  farms  and  substantial  homes. 

Facts   About   Farm   Conditions   and   Practices 

Rank  indicates  counties  tl:at  make  a  better  showing. 

22d     in    total    farm    wealth,    1910    $,737,161 

45th     in  farm  wealth  increase,  1900-10,  per  cent  128.2 

83d     in  per  capita  country  wealth,   1910   $205 

For  the  state  at  large  it  was  $322. 
In  Alleghany  it  was  $560. 

73d     in  negro  farm  owners,  per  cent  of  all  negro  farmers  26 

State    average    33    per    cent;    negro    farm    owners 
in   Halifax   742;    white   farm   owners  in   Halifax 
are  55  per  cent  of  all  white  farmers;   in  N.   C. 
65.5  per  cent. 
19th     in   tax  value   of  farm  land,  compared   with   census 

value,   in   1910,  per   cent  54 

State   average   38  per   cent. 

53d     in  white  farm  mortgages  in  1910,  per  cent  19 

State  average  for  whites,  17  per  cent. 

44th     in  negro  farm  mortgages,  per  cent   27 

State  average  for  negroes   26  per  cent.     For  both 

races   18.5  per  cent   in  North   Carolina. 

14th     in  per  cent  of  total  land  area  under  cultivation  ....  42.8 

State  average  29  per  cent.  Land  under  cultivation 
384,938  acres.  Idle  wilderness  acres  247,742  or 
57.2  per  cent  of  the  total  area.  Reserving  50,000 
acres  for  wood-lot  uses  and  allowing  75  acres  to 
each  family  there  is  room  for  2,640  new  farm 
families  in  Halifax  county. 

9th     in  number   of  farms   4,295 

Average  cultivated  acres  per  farm  43.1.  Size  of 
cultivated  farms  larger  in  13  counties;  2,641 
farms  are  less  than  50  acres  in  size,  and  1,641 
farms  are  over  50  acres  in  size,  both  cultivated 
and  uncultivated  acres  considered. 

88th     in  poultry  decrease,  1900-10,  per  cent   20.5 

Rank  in  number  of  fowls  on  hand  26th. 

27th     in  hogs  per  1,000  acres 47 

State  average  39;   U.  S.  avera-v    66;   Iowa  263. 

68th     in  cattle  increase,  1900-10,  per  cent  5 

Caldwell  county  increased  62  per  cent.  State  aver- 
age increase  12  per  cent.  In  1860  Halifax  had 
11,697  cattle;  in  1910,  8,468. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 


49 


53d     in  cattle  per  1,000  acres  21 

State  average  23 ;  U.  S.  average  61. 

33d     in  swine  decrease,  1900-10,  per  cent  3 

69  counties  decreased;  28  counties  increased.  In 
1860  Halifax  had  36,279  hogs;  in  1910,  19,467. 

53d     in  sheep  losses,  1900-10,  per  cent  50 

Total  number  lost  1,233.    In  1860  Halifax  had  4,351 

sheep;   in   1910,  1,202. 
69th     in  horse  power;  one  work  animal  for  an  average  of, 

acres    28.82 

State  average,  25.85  acres;  U.  S.  average  19.81 
acres. 

64th     in  investment   in   farm   implements,   per   acre   $1.91 

State  average  $2.10;   U.  S.  average  $2.52.  ' 

89th     in  farm  tenancy,  per  cent  64.2 

State  average  42.3  per  cent.  Decrease  in  Halifax, 
1900-10,  was  1  per  cent;  49  counties  increased  in 
farm  tenancy;  47  counties  decreased.  White 
tenants  in  Halifax  number  601;  negro  tenants 
2,158.  The  landless,  homeless  tenants  and  their 
families  number  13,800  souls;  766  tenants  are 
croppers;  1,927  are  cash  or  standing  rent 
tenants.  Tenants  raise  cotton  and  neglect  food 
and  feed  crops. 

28th     in    tobacco    production,    1919,    pounds    4,101,680 

Ten-year  increase,  1909-19,  was  344  per  cent. 
The  1919  tobacco  crop  sold  for  about  $2,200,000. 
8th     in     cotton     production,     1919,     number     of     bales 

ginned  up  to  April,  1920  27,862 

This  cotton  crop  sold  for  5  million  dollars. 
5th     in     cotton     production,     1918,     number     of     bales 

ginned    up    to    April,    1919    37,140 

88th     in  non-food  crops  produced,   cotton,  etc.,   1910  $2,050,782 

The  cotton  and  tobacco  crops  alone  brought 
$7,200,000  in  1919.  Cotton  and  other  non-food 
crops  produce  annually  59  per  cent  of  all  the 
crop  wealth.  Food  and  feed  crops  make  up  41  per 
cent  of  the  total  crop  wealth.  The  state  average 
of  non-food  crops  is  53  per  cent. 

32d     in  production  of  farm  wealth  per  person,  1910  ....  $100 

State  average,  $85 ;  average  of  French  farmers, 
$126.  In  1919  it  amounted  to  $245  per  person 
for  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  Halifax. 


50  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

3d     in   annual   farm   wealth   produced,    1910    $3,766,186 

This  total  covers  both  crop  and  livestock  products. 
In  1919  it  amounted  to  about  $11,000,000.  Every 
two  years  the  farmers  produce  nearly  as  much 
wealth  as  the  entire  county  has  been  able  to 
accumulate  in  152  years;  59  per  cent  of  all  farm 
•wealth  was  produced  by  non-food  crops.  The  need 
is  for  more  food  crops,  better  livestock,  and 
more  livestock  industries. 
29th  in  crop-yielding  power  per  acre,  1910  $18.63 

State  average  $20.18  in  1914;  U.  S.  average 
for  1914  was  $16.34.  Halifax  compares  well 
with  Missouri,  $13.06,  and  Minnesota,  $13.19. 
In  1919  the  crop-yielding  power  per  acre 
amounted  to  about  $55. 
32d  in  production  of  farm  wealth  per  person,  1910  $100 

State    average,    $85;    average    of    French    farmers, 
$126.     In   1919  it  amounted  to   $245  per  person 
for    every    man,    woman,    and    child    in    Halifax. 
50th     in  food  and  feed  production,  per  person,   1910   ....  $45 

Needed   $84   per   person   per  year;    deficit   $39   per 

person,    on    the   basis    of    pre-war    prices.      It    is 

twice  this  amount  today  if  we  have  not  increased 

our  food  and  feed  crops. 

'71st     in    food    and    feed    crops;    per    cent    of    total    crop 

value   41 

Alleghany  89  per  cent;  state  average  47  per  cent; 
Alleghany  is  the  richest  county  in  per  capita 
country  wealth  in  the  state.  Halifax  ranks  83d 
in  this  particular.  Food  production  means  a 
maximum  retention  of  cash  derived  from  cotton 
and  tobacco  sales. 
53d  in  livestock  levels,  per  cent  of  a  lightly  stocked 

farm    area    23 

We  are  77  per  cent  beloAv  the  level  of  a  lightly- 
stocked  farm  area.  A  lightly-stocked  farm  area 
means  one  animal  unit  for  every  5  acres — a  horse, 
a  cow,  2  colts,  5  hogs,  7  sheep,  100  hens,  etc. 

Sources  of  Information — 1910  Census;  North  Carolina  Farm  Fore- 
caster, May,  1920;  Eural  Social  Science  Files,  University  of  North 
Carolina. 


VIII 

HOME-RAISED  FOOD  AND  THE  LOCAL 
MARKET  PROBLEM 


SIDNEY    B.    ALLEN 

Our   Two   and  a   Quarter   Million   Dollar  Shortage 

We  find  that  in  Halifax  county  in  1910  there  was  a  need  for  food 
and  feed  supplies  amounting  to  the  sum  of  $3,946,922,  whereas  we  pro- 
duced food  and  feed  supplies  amounting  to  only  $1,715,079.  In 
other  words,  the  food  consumed  by  man  and  beast  in  Halifax  in  1910 
amounted  to  $2,231,843  more  than  our  farms  produced.  This  was  our 
bill  for  food  supplies  imported  in  the  census  year. 

During  the  same  period  our  money  crops,  most  largely  cotton  and 
tobacco,  sold  for  two  million  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Deducting  this 
amount  from  the  shortage  in  food  and  feed  production,  we  see  that 
our  cotton  and  tobacco  crops  failed  to  pay  our  bills  for  imported 
bread  and  meat  by  the  sum  of  181  thousand  dollars.  If  our  farmers 
did  not  raise  more  bread  and  meat  last  year  than  in  1910,  and  in  all 
probability  they  did  not,  because  tobacco  has  preoccupied  our  attention 
of  late,  our  bill  for  imported  breadstuffs  must  be  around  five  million 
dollars,  present  prices  considered. 

The  food  bill  above  covers  the  standard  staple  food  and  feedstuff's, 
not  dainties  and  luxuries.  The  figures  are  based  on  the  thirteenth 
census  report  and  the  average  annual  consumption  figures  given  out 
by  the  Federal  Department  of  Agriculture. 

The  Shortage  in  Detail 

This  shortage  in  detail  covers  2,444,868  pounds  of  meats;  1,699,304 
pounds  of  butter;  308,355  fowls;  345,305  dozen  eggs;  740,137  bushels 
of  corn;  148,053  bushels  of  wheat  and  10,277  tons  of  hay;  and  other 
products  in  considerable  proportion,  such  as  potatoes,  are  not  even 
included.  This  enormous  shortage  in  food  and  feed  supplies  means  that 
Halifax  county  needs  to  wake  up  or  she  will  lag  helplessly  behind  in 
the  retention  and  accumulation  of  farm  wealth.  We  need  an  immense 
increase  in  the  home  production  of  food  crops,  beef,  mutton,  pork,  milk 
and  dairy  products. 

Why  Our  Farmers  Fall  Behind 

Our  farmers  do  not  supply  this  two  and  a  quarter  million  dollar 
market  demand,  because  (1)  of  too  much  attention  to  cotton  and 
tobacco  and  too  little  to  food  and  feed  products;  (2)  excessive  farm 
tenancy  under  the  supply-merchant,  crop-lien,  time-credit  system;  and 


52  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

(3)  the  lack  of  ready  cash  markets  for  home-raised  supplies.  It  is  a 
deplorable  truth  that  we  have  no  ready  cash  market  for  home-raised 
food  and  feed  crops,  and  this,  to  a  great  degree,  causes  many  of  our 
farmers  to  raise  cotton  and  other  money  crops  to  the  utter  neglect  of 
bread  and  meat  products. 

Too  Little  Home-Raised  Supplies 

Fifty-nine  per  cent  of  the  total  crop  wealth  produced  in  Halifax 
year  by  year  is  produced  by  cotton,  tobacco  and  other  non-food  crops, 
and  this  ratio  has  been  steadily  increasing.  We  are  giving  increasing 
attention  to  cotton  and  tobacco  and  decreasing  attention  to  grain  crops, 
hay  and  forage,  domestic  animals  and  livestock  products.  We  are  not 
on  a  safe  farming  basis  as  long  as  we  are  dependent  on  other  counties 
and  states  for  the  staple  necessities  of  life. 

According  to  the  government  statistics  in  the  census  year  we  needed 
1,166,902  bushels  of  corn  as  food  for  man  and  beast,  but  we  produced 
only  426,765  bushels,  leaving  a  deficit  of  740,137  bushels.  Halifax 
ranks  29th  in  corn  production.  Only  11  bushels  of  corn  per  person 
were  produced  in  1910,  while  we  needed  31  bushels  per  inhabitant  per 
year. 

Likewise  we  fell  behind  in  wheat  production.  We  needed  150,584 
bushels,  while  only  2,515  were  produced,  thus  leaving  a  deficit  of 
148,053  bushels.  Sixty-five  counties  produced  more  wheat  per  inhabi- 
tant than  Halifax  in  1910.  Four  bushels  per  person  were  needed,  while 
only  six  one-hundredths  of  a  bushel  per  person  was  produced. 

Our  total  crop  of  oats  in  the  last  census  period  amounted  to  8,794 
bushels,  while  65  counties  had  a  larger  production.  The  loss  in  oats 
production  between  1900-10  was  55  per  cent.  In  1860  Halifax  pro- 
duced 56,619  bushels  of  oats  while  the  production  in  1910  amounted 
to  only  8,794  bushels. 

Our  hay  and  forage  production  likewise  showed  a  striking  deficit. 
Only  2,315  tons  were  produced  when  12,592  tons  were  needed.  However, 
we  find  in  this  particular  there  was  an  increase  of  31  per  cent  from 
1900-10.  We  rank  53d  in  the  production  of  this  crop. 

We  find  that  32  per  cent  of  the  farms  bought  feed  supplies  when 
they  should  have  raised  their  own  supplies.  Forty-seven  counties 
bought  less  feed  than  we. 

Eighty-five  counties  produced  more  beef  per  person  than  Halifax. 
The  state  average  was  34  pounds  while  ours  was  only  12.  Such  is  the 
great  need  for  the  raising  of  more  beef  and  cattle. 

We  show  an  appalling  deficit  in  poultry  and  egg  production.  Sev- 
enty-six counties  rank  ahead  of  us  in  the  former  and  eighty-nine 
counties  outstripped  us  in  the  latter.  Our  poultry  deficit  in  the  census 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  53 

year  was  308,355  fowls  and  our  egg  shortage  was  345,305  dozen.     Let 

us    remember    that    poultry    and  eggs    are    necessities    that    our    town 

dwellers   might   produce   in   their  back  lots   with   a   little  attention  and 
exertion. 

In  butter  production  we  fell  to  a  low  rank.  We  needed  1,811,008 
pounds  and  we  produced  only  111,664  pounds,  showing  a  deficit  of 
1,699,304  pounds.  We  either  bought  this  amount  or  failed  to  consume 
the  minimum  required  to  balance  our  food  diet. 

Why  We  Are  Not  Self-Feeding 

In  1910  nearly  two-thirds,  or  64.2  per  cent,  of  our  farms  were  culti- 
vated by  tenants.  And  farm  tenancy  under  the  crop-lien  system  in  the 
South  means  more  cotton  and  tobacco  and  less  attention  to  grains,  hay 
and  forage,  fruits,  vegetables,  poultry  and  dairy  products,  and  to  beef, 
mutton,  and  pork  production.  In  Halifax  the  annual  consumption  of 
these  products  amounts  to  nearly  four  million  dollars,  but  our  farms 
produce  only  one  and  three-quarter  million  dollars  worth  of  them:  so 
we  sent  out  of  the  county,  in  truth,  a  king's  ransom,  amounting  to 
more  than  two  million  dollars,  for  food  and  feed  supplies  that  we 
might  have  raised  at  home,  and  by  just  so  much  did  we  decrease  our 
power  to  accumulate  wealth.  This  was  in  1910.  At  present  price? 
our  need  is  for  around  8  million  dollars  worth  of  food  and  feed  supplies 
and  our  deficit  is  around  5  million  dollars. 

But  this  immediate  discussion  is  to  show  why  we  are  not  a  self- 
feeding  county,  so  let  us  look  at  this  problem. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  reasons  why  our  county  fails  to  be 
a  self -feeding  farm  area  are,  the  excessive  farm  tenancy,  too  much 
attention  to  money  crops,  and  the  lack  of  ready  cash  markets  for  home- 
raised  supplies. 

The  crop-lien,  supply-merchant,  time-credit  system,  under  which 
tenants  do  business,  makes  it  imperative  for  them  to  grow  a  roady- 
money  crop,  such  as  cotton  or  tobacco.  There  is  always  a  cash  market 
for  these  crops,  but  to  get  the  best  prices  for  food  and  feedstuffs  a 
farmer  must  hold  them  until  the  supply  is  largely  used  up.  This  the 
farm  tenant  cannot  do.  The  supply-merchant  is  waiting  for  his  money, 
and  his  bill  covers  large  profits  and  high  interest  rates  on  the  debt. 

So  long  as  these  conditions  prevail  the  farm  tenant  will  continue 
to  neglect  food  and  feed  crops  for  cotton  and  tobacco,  for  which  there 
is  a  ready-cash  market.  Now,  while  the  demands  for  bread  and  meat 
crops  are  great  and  the  prices  astoundingly  high,  is  the  opportune  time 
for  tenants  to  redouble  their  efforts  to  produce  more  and  save  more 
until  they  become  able  to  buy  farms  of  their  own  on  which  to  settle 
down  into  stable,  substantial  citizenship.  When  a  man  can  sit  down 


54  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

under  his  own  vine  and  fig  tree  and  look  out  over  his  own  fields  as  the 
lord  of  all  he  surveys,  then,  and  only  then,  can  he  be  his  own  boss  and 
pitch  crops  of  his  own  choice,  to  say  nothing  of  the  added  joy  he  derives 
from  putting  his  feet  under  his  own  table  and  saying  grace  over  the 
bounties  grown  on  his  own  soil. 

Poor   Market   Facilities 

The  farmer  raises  cotton  and  tobacco  instead  of  food  and  feed  crops, 
because  there  is  a  ready  market  and  ready  cash  for  them.  He  need 
not  seek  the  market,  the  market  seeks  him.  He  can  sell  them  at  any 
time  for  ready  money  and  he  can  establish  credit  upon  them  before 
they  are  even  planted.  Not  so  with  bread  and  meat  products.  The 
farmer  must  peddle  his  vegetables,  fruits,  butter  and  eggs,  meat  and 
poultry,  from  door  to  door.  Often  when  he  cannot  sell  to  any  one 
he  will  leave  his  perishable  products  with  the  merchant  to  dispose  of 
at  any  price  obtainable,  as  it  would  be  a  complete  loss  to  take  them 
back  home.  Effective  local  markets  lower  the  cost  of  living  by  bringing 
producers  and  consumers  into  direct  dealings  with  one  another.  At 
present  producers  and  consumers  are  not  organized  in  ways  advan- 
tageous to  both.  They  are  as  far  apart  as  though  they  lived  on 
different  planets.  The  producers  and  consumers  of  Halifax  certainly 
suffer  from  the  Iron  Law  of  Trade,  which  says:  Keep  producers  and 
consumers  as  far  apart  as  possible;  pass  economic  commodities  from 
one  to  the  other  through  as  many  hands  as  possible;  charge  consumers 
as  much  as  possible  and  pay  producers  as  little  as  possible.  As  long 
as  this  law  is  in  full  operation  in  Halifax  county  everj^body  will  suffer. 
It  can  be  broken  down  only  by  union  and  co-operation.  Where  there 
is  disunion  and  collision  both  producers  and  consumers  are  punished. 
The  producer  gets  too  little  for  his  products,  the  consumer  gets  too 
little  for  his  money,  while  the  middle  man  gets  the  lion's  share  of  the 
wealth  the  farmers  produce,  and  the  lion's  share  of  the  consumer's 
dollar. 

Doubling   Our  Farm  Wealth 

But  leaving  the  town  consumers  out  of  consideration,  our  farmers 
can  and  ought  to  produce  the  supplies  they  need  from  year  to  year 
to  feed  their  own  families  and  farm  animals.  If  the  farmers  could  or 
would  stop  spending  such  enormous  amounts  each  year  for  these  things 
the  farm  wealth  of  Halifax  would  be  doubled  in  the  next  few  years. 

It  is  far  from  our  purpose  to  advocate  that  farmers  stop  raising 
cotton  and  tobacco,  for  they  cannot  afford  to  do  this.  But  we  do 
strongly  advocate  that  they  raise  cotton  and  tobacco  on  a  bread-and- 
meat  basis.  We  have  tried  to  get  rich  buying  food  and  feed  stuffs  with 
cotton  and  tobacco  money  long  enough  to  know  that  it  cannot  be  done. 
No  policy  of  this  sort  can  ever  make  us  as  wealthy  as  the  Middle 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  55 

Western  farmers  who  raise  their  own  bread  and  meat.  The  only  cer- 
tain way  to  increase  our  farm  wealth  is  to  have  our  pantries,  barns, 
and  smoke-houses  filled  with  home-raised  supplies,  no  matter  what  else 
we  produce  on  our  farms. 

The  Acid  Test  of  Success 

The  local  market  problem  created  by  the  demand  for  breadstuffs 
at  high  prices  and  the  failure  of  the  nearby  farmers  to  supply  this 
demand  is  a  perplexing  problem  in  every  city  of  America. 

The  law  of  markets  is  greed  for  gain.  It  is  the  tooth-and-claw 
struggle  for  price  and  profits.  This  primary  law  of  human  nature 
organizes  a  world-wide  market  for  cotton  and  tobacco ;  and  at  the  same 
time  and  for  the  same  reason  it  denies  producers  and  consumers  of 
breadstuffs,  living  side  by  side  in  the  same  county,  an  even  chance  and 
opportunity  for  direct  dealing  with  mutual  advantage. 

The  Solution  of  the  Problem 

The  local  market  problem  is  difficult  of  solution.  Greed  safely  counts 
upon  the  dull  unconcern  of  both  producers  and  consumers.  Finally  the 
consumers  wake  up  to  the  fact  that  the  cost  of  living  is  a  national 
problem.  Farmers  discover  that  the  prices  of  food  products  to  con- 
sumers have  gone  up  enormously,  but  that  their  own  farm  profits  are 
no  more  than  they  were  fifteen  years  ago.  The  simple  fact  is  that 
producers  and  consumers  are  too  far  apart  and  the  cost  of  marketing 
too  great. 

The  solution  lies  in  getting  producers  and  consumers  together,  the 
principle  of  action  lies  in  co-operation,  and  success  is  achieved  when 
farmers  get  more  for  their  products  and  consumers  get  more  for  their 
money.  If  the  farmers  do  not  get  more  and  at  the  same  time  if  the 
consumers  do  not  pay  less,  then  the  problem  is  not  solved,  no  matter 
how  elaborate  or  expensive  the  market  plan  or  the  market  house. 

Co-operation    Necessary 

Producers  alone  cannot  solve  the  market  problem.  Success  calls  for 
the  direct  co-operation  of  consumers;  and  in  big  scale  marketing,  it 
invariably  calls  for  and  depends  upon  the  credit  accommodation  of 
the  banks.  If  consumers  are  unconcerned  and  unorganized,  or  if  banks 
and  transportation  companies  are  neglectful  or  hostile,  the  farmers' 
chance  of  success  is  reduced  to  zero.  Success  lies  in  collusion  not  in 
collision,  in  co-operation  not  in  contest. 

Texas  a  Model 

Texas  has  taken  a  long  step  forward  in  solving  her  market  prob- 
lems; and  one  of  the  many  things  she  does  with  the  help  of  her 
boards  of  trade  is  to  maintain  free  telephone  market  information  ex- 


56  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL, 

changes  in  charge  of  officials  whose  business  it  is  to  give  reliable  and 
disinterested  market  news  to  farmers  and  city  dwellers,  and  to  bring  pro- 
ducers and  consumers  together  in  direct  dealings. 

What  the  Banks  Can  Do 

Texas  banks  are  refusing  loans  to  supply-merchants  who  do  a  crop- 
lien  business  protected  by  cotton  acreage  alone.  They  have  a  half-and- 
half  system.  They  stipulate  a  minimum  acreage,  usually  half  of  the 
farm,  which  must  be  devoted  to  food  production,  and  farmers  are  re- 
quired to  raise  a  specified  amount  on  this  acreage.  The  banks  are 
doing  this  to  force  the  supply-merchant  to  force  the  farmer  to  raise 
a  sufficiency  of  bread  and  meat  on  every  farm.  It  is  sound  sense  and 
safe  business  policy,  they  say,  to  keep  in  Texas  the  217  million  dollars 
that  have  been  leaving  the  state  year  by  year  heretofore  to  pay  bills 
for  imported  food  supplies. 

This  policy  insures  a  food-producing  farm  civilization,  and  this 
means  prosperity.  It  also  means  a  bigger,  safer,  better  business  for 
supply  merchants  and  bankers. 

This  same  system  could  be  put  in  operation  in  this  state,  especially 
in  our  cotton  and  tobacco  counties  where  conditions  are  similar  to  those 
in  Texas.  We  have  proved  to  the  world  that  we  cannot  accumulate 
country  wealth  under  our  one-crop  or  money-crop  system  of  farming. 
We  stay  poor  while  the  West  grows  rich.  The  bankers  can  do  more 
to  solve  this  problem  in  a  single  year  than  all  the  farm  demonstrators 
can  do  in  a  lifetime. 

The  larger  towns  of  Halifax  must  get  ready  with  market  arrange- 
ments, conveniences,  and  facilities  for  doing  a  larger  business  in  home- 
raised  food  and  feed  supplies. 

The  Farmers'  End  of  the  Problem 

On  the  other  hand,  the  farmers  must  not  only  produce  food  and 
feed  supplies  for  farm  consumption  but  they  must  raise  enough  to  feed 
the  towns  of  the  county  as  well.  They  must  know  more  about  the 
market  conditions  and  demands.  All  of  them  should  not  bring  their 
products  to  town  at  one  time.  In  Halifax  there  is  no  large  city,  and 
naturally  the  markets  are  small  ones.  What  they  offer  for  sale  in 
competition  with  the  big  wide  world  must  look  as  good  and  taste  as 
good  as  imported  food  products.  They  must  produce  meat,  butter,  eggs, 
fruits,  vegetables,  grain  and  hay  in  steady  and  reliable  quantities;  and 
stand  ready  to  supply  market  demands  just  as  the  western  markets  do 
upon  short  notice. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 


57 


FOOD  AND  FEED  NEEDS  AND  DEFICITS 

(Based   on   the    1910    Census) 

1.  Food    and    Feed: 

Needed— 37,646  people   @   $84  $3,424,388 

6,881  work  animals   @   $39.39  271,042 

3,227   dairy  cows   @   $18.55   69,860 

1,469   other  cattle   @    $8.09   46,274 

1,222    sheep    @    $1.79    2,187 

19,906    swine    @    $6.69    133,171 

Total  food  and  feed  needed  $3,946,922 

2.  Produced: 

Food   and  feed  crops   $1,416,685 

Dairy    products    33,537 

Poultry   products    92,439 

Honey  and  wax   540 

Animals   sold  and  slaughtered   171,878 

Total  food  and  feed  produced  $1,715,079 

Shortage  in  home-raised  food  and  feed  ..  2,231,843 

Cotton  and  tobacco  crop  values  were  ....  2,050,782 

Deficit  in  dollars   181,061 

3.  Distribution  of  Food  and  Feed   Shortage: 
(1)   Meat  needed   for   37,646   people    @    152 

Ibs.,  pounds  5,722,192 

produced   192   calves    @    150   Ibs.          28,800 

1,226    cattle    @    350    Ibs.        429,100 

181,035   poultry    @    3.5   Ibs.        633,623 

10,929  hogs  @  200  Ibs 2,185,800 

Total  home  meat  produced,  Ibs.  ..  3,277,323 

Deficit,  Ibs 2,444,869 

(2)   Butter   needed   for   37,646   people    @    48 

Ibs 1,811,008 

produced    111,664 

deficit,   Ibs 1,699,344 

(3)  Fowls   needed   for   37,646   people    @    13  489,390 

produced    181,035 

deficit,    fowls    308,355 

(4)  Eggs  needed  for  37,646  people   @   17% 

dozen    558,635 

produced    213,330 

deficit,   dozen 345,305 


58  HALIFAX  COUNTY  :  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

(5)   Corn  needed  for  37,646  people  @  31  bu.  1,166,902 

produced    426,765 

deficit,    bushels    740,137 

(6)   Wheat  needed  for  37,646  people  @  4  bu.  150,584 

produced 2,515 

deficit,  bushels   148,069 

(7)   Hay  needed  for  6,881  work  animals  @  10 

Ibs.,    tons 12,592 

produced    2,315 

deficit,    tons    :....  10,277 

FACTS  ABOUT  FOOD  AND  FEED  PRODUCTION 

29th     in  corn  production,  total  crop,  bushels,  1910   426,765 

Eobeson  ranked  first  with  1,142,060  bushels.  In 
1860  Halifax  produced  797,001  bushels  of  corn. 

82d     in  corn  produced  per  inhabitant  in  1910,  bushels  ....  11 

Needed  per  person,  31  bushels  per  year.  Deficit 
per  person,  20  bushels;  total  deficit,  740,137 
bushels.  State  average  15  bushels  per  person  in 
1910. 

66th     in  wheath  production  per  inhabitant,  in  1910,  bushels  .06 

Needed,  4  bushels  per  person  per  year;  deficit  per 
person,  3.94  bushels;  total  deficit,  483,250  bushels; 
only  15  counties  in  1910  raised  wheat  surpluses. 
Loss  in  wheat  production,  1900-10,  was  67  per 
cent.  Halifax  produced  36,165  bushels  in  1860; 
in  1910  only  2,515  bushels. 

66th     in  oats  production,  total  crop,  in  1910,  bushels  8,794 

The  oats  raised  amounted  to  only  one-fifth  of  a  pint 
per  work  animal  per  day.     The  loss  in  oats  pro- 
duction, 1900-10,  was  55  per  cent.     In  1860  Hali- 
fax produced  56,619  bushels   of   oats. 
53d     in  hay  and  forage  production,  total  crop,  in   1910, 

tons    2,315 

Ten-years'    increase,     1900-10,    was    31    per    cent. 

48th     in  per  cent  of  farms  buying  farm  feed  •. 32 

1,392    farms    bought    feed,    averaging    $52.60    per 

farm. 
86th     in  beef  production  per  inhabitant,  in  1910,  pounds  12 

State  average,   33.8   pounds. 
79th     in  pork  production  per  inhabitant,  in  1910,  pounds  58.7 

State  average  93.3  pounds. 

77th     in  poultry  production  per  inhabitant,  in  1910,  fowls  4.84 

Needed  13  per  person  per  year ;  total  deficit  308,355. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  59 

81st     in  increase  in  farm  sales   of   dairy  products,   1910, 

per  cent   45 

Total  sales  in  1910  were  $9,279.  State  increase 
was  146  per  cent.  Halifax  produced  3  pounds 
of  butter  per  person.  The  average  amount  needed 
is  48  pounds  per  person;  deficit,  45  pounds  per 
person. 
96th  in  livestock  products  per  inhabitant,  in  1910  $8 

Alleghany,    $65;    state    average    $17.      Per    capita 
crop  production  was  $92  in  Halifax.     Total  farm 
wealth  produced  was  $100  per  inhabitant. 
84th     in   bill  for   imported   food  and   feed   supplies   $2,231,843 

In  4  years  it  equals  the  farm  wealth  accumulated 
in  152  years.     Every  4  years  the  farmers  produce 
as  much  wealth  as  they  have  been  able  to  accu- 
mulate in  152  years. 
47th     in  Boys  Corn  Club  enrollment,  1915;  boys  reporting  13 

Average  per  acre  yield,  44.9  bushels  or  over  three 
times  the  average  for  the  county  at  large.  At 
this  rate  the  grown-ups  might  have  produced 
enough  corn  for  home  use  and  718,145  bushels  to 
sell  abroad.  Instead  they  bought  740,137  bushels 
in  1910. 

Sources  of  Information — 1860  and  1910  Census  volumes;  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture  Eeports;  Rural  Social  Science  Files, 
University"  of  North  Carolina;  North  Carolina  Farm  Forecaster,  May, 
1920. 

HALIFAX  IN  1860  and  1909 

Crops    and    Livestock  1860  1909 

Corn,    bushels    797,000  426,765 

Hay,    tons    6,254                      2,315 

Wheat,    bushels    36,165                      2,515 

Oats,   bushels   56,619                      8,794 

Peas  and  beans,  bushels  43,914                     5,176 

Sorghum,    gallons    623                      3,664 

Sweet   potatoes,    bushels    '. 122,425  122,454 

Irish   potatoes,   bushels   16,012                      6,835 

Cotton,   baies    8,356                    23,412 

Tobacco,    pounds    845,200  924,435 

Wool,    pounds    8,894                       1,000 

Butter,    pounds    49,813  111,664 

Honey,    pounds    14,155                      4,473 

Horses    1,994                      3,657 


60 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 


Mules 1,815  2,757 

Dairy    cattle    3,409  3,227 

Other    cattle    8,288  5,241 

Sheep 8,105  1,202 

Swine 36,279  19,46,7 

HALIFAX    IN    1909   AND  1919 

Crops  1909  1919 

Corn,  bushels   426,765  666,000 

Hay,    tons    2,315  53,253 

Wheat,    bushels 2,515  17,150 

Oats,   bushels   8,794  9,622 

Soy    beans,    bushels    6,103 

Cow    peas    5,131  12,064 

Peanuts,    bushels    674,087  526,284 

Sorghum,    gallons    3,664  25,039 

Sweet   potatoes,   bushels    122,454  82,584 

Irish   potatoes,   bushels    6,835  18,810 

Cotton,   bales   23,412  27,862 

Tobacco,   pounds   924,435  4,101,680 


IX 

THINGS  TO  BE  PEOUD  OF  IN  HALIFAX 


E.   S.   TEA  VIS,  JE. 

Halifax  county  has  a  great  many  things  to  be  proud  of.  Besides 
being  one  of  the  oldest  counties  in  the  state,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
prosperous.  It  is  as  rich  in  history  as  it  is  in  future  prospects,  and  its 
people  are  justly  proud  of  the  high  position  it  occupies  in  the  state. 

There  are  five  towns  of  considerable  importance,  namely,  Enfield, 
Halifax,  Eoanoke  Eapids,  Scotland  Neck,  and  Weldon,  and  these  deserve 
special  mention  in  this  discussion. 

Roanoke  Rapids 

Probably  no  town  in  the  state  has  had  the  rapid  development  of 
Eoanoke  Eapids.  Beginning  in  1895,  with  scarcely  a  home,  this  town 
now  boasts  of  some  seven  thousand  inhabitants.  The  increase  since  the 
census  of  1910  is  around  300  per  cent.  Situated  on  the  Eoanoke  river, 
at  a  point  where  this  stream  develops  its  maximum  power,  the  town  is 
an  ideal  manufacturing  site.  The  Seaboard  Air  Line  Eailway,  to- 
gether with  the  improved  roads  branching  out  to  every  part  of  the 
county,  furnish  wronderful  transportation  facilities,  by  means  of  which 
raw  materials  can  be  shipped  to  and  manufactured  products  shipped 
from  the  town  with  the  greatest  possible  ease.  Here  mills  have  sprung 
up  from  year  to  year  which,  through  capable  management,  have  come 
to  be  among  the  most  modern  and  prosperous  mills  of  the  state.  They 
are  the  pride  of  our  county.  Eoanoke  Eapids,  as  well  as  the  entire 
county,  owes  a  large  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  far-reaching  and  beneficial 
activities  of  these  mills.  Through  their  efforts  and  the  capable  co- 
operation of  Dr.  T.  W.  M.  Long,  a  free  public  hospital  has  been  erected 
at  Eoanoke  Eapids.  It  is  equipped  and  conducted  in  a  manner  that 
is  so  modern  and  so  thoroughly  efficient  that  it  is  a  source  of  pride  to  the 
county  and  the  state  at  large.  In  this,  and  many  other  instances,  the 
work  of  the  managers  of  these  mills  is  evident. 

Eoanoke  Eapids  is  a  town  of  wide-awake,  industrial  leaders  and 
people.  It  is  already  evident  that  it  is  to  become  one  of  the  leading 
manufacturing  towns  of  our  state. 

Weldon 

A  consistent,  conservative,  and  steadily-growing  town  is  Weldon.  It 
lacks  the  impulsive,  rapid  impetus  that  is  manifested  by  Eoanoke  Eapids, 
but  nevertheless  it  is  a  town  that  is  bound  to  make  its  mark.  Situated 
on  the  Eoanoke  river,  at  the  junction  of  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line  and 


62  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

Seaboard  Air  Line  Eailways,  its  accessibility  is  ideal.  Weldon,  all 
through  our  history,  has  been  the  center  of  the  financial  and  commercial 
activities  of  the  county.  Its  manufacturing  concerns  are  old  and  thor- 
oughly established,  and  they  are  steadily  increasing  in  size  and  capacity. 
A  glance  at  our  chapter  on  industries  will  bring  out  this  fact. 

The  people  of  Weldon  are  enterprising  and  successful,  and  their 
untiring  and  progressive  activities  have  done  much  for  the  advancement 
and  general  welfare  of  Halifax. 

Enfield 

Enfield  is  the  oldest  town  in  the  county,  and  was  for  several  years 
the  seat  of  Edgecombe  county  when  it  included  Halifax.  Enfield  was 
also,  for  a  number  of  years,  the  site  of  the  district  court  of  the 
counties  of  Edgecombe,  Granville,  Bertie,  and  Northampton.  The  Bank 
of  Enfield,  situated  in  this  town,  is  the  most  prosperous  bank  in  the 
county,  and  there  are  several  other  concerns  that  make  Enfield  a  town  of 
importance.  Chief  among  these  are  the  recently  constructed  tobacco 
warehouses  which  have  done  so  much  to  increase  our  steadily-growing 
production,  and  to  divert  the  sale  of  tobacco  which  was  hitherto  con- 
ducted in  neighboring  counties. 

Halifax 

Halifax  has  the  distinction  of  having  been  at  different  times  the  seat 
of  government  of  the  province,  and  afterwards  of  the  new  state.  It 
also  has  the  higher  distinction  of  being  the  birthplace  of  the  State 
Constitution,  and  the  place  where  the  famous  Independence  Eesolutions 
were  passed  April  12,  1776.  A  glance  at  the  first  chapter  on  ''The 
Historical  Background"  of  the  county  will  show  just  how  great  a  role 
Halifax  played  in  the  history  of  our  state  and  the  nation.  It  is  a  role 
of  which  we  may  feel  justly  proud.  Halifax  is  still  a  producer  of 
great  men  and  great  deeds. 

Scotland  Neck 

Scotland  Neck  is  the  center  of  the  peanut  industry  of  this  section 
and  is  one  of  the  largest  markets  in  the  world  for  that  product.  It 
lacks  the  very  important  advantage  of  transportation  facilities,  being 
reached  only  by  the  Weldon-Kinston  branch  of  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line 
Eailroad.  Given  adequate  transportation  facilities,  however,  there  is 
no  doubt  that  it  would  fast  become  the  most  important  town  of  our 
county.  The  business  men  of  the  town  are  wide-awake;  and  it  is  from 
this  town  that  the  most  important  statesmen  from  our  well-represented 
county  have  sprung. 

Other  Towns 

Besides  the  above-mentioned  towns,  there  are  Hobgood,  Tillery, 
Eosemary,  Palmyra,  Hollister,  a  town  fast  approaching  importance  as 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  63 

a  lumber  center,  Eingwood,.  and  Littleton,  a  town  of  much  importance, 
situated  partly  in  Halifax  and  partly  in  Warren  County. 

Schools 

Halifax  has  made  great  strides  in  educational  growth  in  recent 
years.  Besides  the  very  important  item  of  consolidation,  a  discussion 
of  Avhich  appears  elsewhere,  there  have  been  several  new  city  schools 
erected,  \vhich  afford  model  examples  of  what  such  institutions  should 
be.  There  are  such  schools  to  be  found  at  Enfield,  Scotland  Neck, 
Eosemary,  and  Weldon.  At  Eoanoke  Eapids,  plans  are  already  drawn 
up  for  a  high  school  that  will  rank  with  the  best  in  the  state.  The 
cut  of  this  building  appears  in  this  booklet,  and  Eoanoke  Eapids  is  to 
be  highly  commended  for  taking  the  lead  in  this  undertaking. 

But  our  progress  is  not  confined  to  our  city  schools  alone.  In  1918 
only  eight  counties  in  the  entire  state  stood  ahead  of  us  in  expenditures 
for  buildings  and  supplies  in  rural  schools.  That  year  the  expenditure 
amounted  to  $14,370.81. 

Halifax  also  stood  eighth  in  salaries  paid  white  teachers,  the  aver- 
age being  $440.92.  In  this  instance,  we  stood  $117  ahead  of  the  state 
average.  Although  we  are  near  the  top  in  this  respect  in  North  Caro- 
lina, the  author  feels  hesitant  in  placing  these  low  figures  in  the  list  of 
things  to  be  proud  of.  A  glance  at  them  will  show  the  reason. 

Population 

We  stand  thirteenth  in  the  state  in  size,  with  an  area  of  432,640 
acres,  while  only  seven  counties  in  the  state  lead  us  in  population, 
according  to  the  1910  census,  Halifax  having  37,646  inhabitants.  The 
density  of  rural  population  was  55.7  per  square  mile,  an  item  in  which 
only  7  counties  made  a  better  showing. 

Wealth 

Halifax  is  predominantly  an  agricultural  county,  and  the  following 
statistics  bring  out  facts  about  our  farm  wealth  of  which  we  may  be 
justly  proud. 

According  to  the  1910  census  we  stood  22d  in  total  farm  wealth,  the 
amount  being  $7,737,161.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  21  counties  are 
ahead  of  us  in  this  respect,  only  tAvo  counties  produced  a  greater  total 
of  farm  wealth.  Our  production  of  crop  and  livestock  values  amounted 
to  $3,766,186.  This  year,  with  inflated  prices,  we  hesitate  to  say  what 
our  production  of  farm  wealth  will  be.  Two  crops  alone,  cotton  and 
tobacco,  produced  wealth  to  the  value  of  7  million  dollars  in  1919. 

In  1917  Halifax  stood  9th  in  total  taxable  wealth,  having  on  her 
tax  books  $19,030,046.  The  increase  from  1907  to  1917  was  76  per 
cent.  The  revaluation  act  will  show  our  wealth  to  be  around  three 
times  the  total  of  1917. 


64  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

.The  state  income  taxes  paid  in  1917  amounted  to  $2,234,  in  which 
instance  only  11  counties  stood  ahead  of  Halifax. 

In  the  Third  Liberty  Loan  Halifax  stood  19th  in  the  state,  with 
3.78  per  cent  of  the  population  subscribing.  This  was  ahead  of  the 
state  average,  which  was  3.4  per  cent. 

Halifax  stood  19th  in  tax  value  of  farm  land,  compared  with  census 
value  in  1910,  the  per  cent  being  54,  or  16  per  cent  above  the  average 
of  the  state. 

During  the  decade  from  1900  to  1910,  the  increase  in  the  value  of 
our  domestic  animals  was  144  per  cent,  in  which  instance  we  stood 
14th  in  the  state.  There  must  be  no  let-up  in  this  important  necessity. 
We  need  more  and  better  livestock. 

Agriculture. 

Our  farmers  form  the  backbone  of  our  community  life,  and  have 
made  our  civilization  strong  and  stable.  The  number  of  farms  in  the 
county  was  4,295  in  1910,  and  only  eight  counties  had  more. 

Although  only  42.8  per  cent  of  the  total  land  area  of  the  county 
is  under  cultivation,  only  thirteen  counties  have  larger  percentages. 
There  is  plenty  of  room  for  new  farmers  in  Halifax. 

In  cotton  production  in  1919  Halifax  ranked  8th  in  the  state,  the 
number  of  bales  ginned  up  to  April,  1920,  being  27,862. 

In  tobacco  production  Halifax  has  made  great  strides,  ranking  28th 
in  the  state,  with  4,101,640  pounds  in  1919.  This  product  will  continue 
to  increase  in  importance  in  the  years  to  come,  and  will  mean  another 
great  source  of  wealth  for  our  county. 

The   People 

A  previous  chapter  treats  the  rank  of  Halifax  people  in  important 
particulars  when  compared  with  the  other  counties  of  the  state.  The 
people  of  Halifax  have  a  just  right  to  be  proud.  Her  sons  of  note  have 
been  numerous  in  her  past  history,  and  today  she  has  men  of  distinction 
in  the  state  and  the  nation.  Practically  all  of  our  people  are  native 
born.  Very  few  foreigners  are  to  be  found  within  our  borders.  Con- 
sequently our  social  and  political  life  is  stable.  Radicalism,  I.  W.  W.-sm, 
Bolshevism,  strikes  and  riots  are  unknown.  Our  farmers,  townspeople, 
and  mill  workers  are  happy,  prosperous  and  contented,  although  con- 
stantly active  in  bettering  their  conditions. 

Education 

The  public  school  system  of  Halifax  county  is  one  of  the  best  in 
the  state.  The  nine  years'  growth  in  rural  schools  from  1908  to  1917, 
treated  in  another  part  of  this  bulletin,  is  sufficient  evidence  of  this 
fact.  The  real  educational  growth  of  the  county  began  with  the  labors 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  65 

of  Dr.  A.  S.  Harrison,  as  county  superintendent.  Since  then  the 
schools  have  been  growing  steadily,  both  in  numbers  and  capacity  for 
service,  until  today  every  white  child  in  the  county  has  the  privilege 
of  attending  school  six  months  in  the  year.  Prof.  A.  E.  Akers  took  up 
the  Avork  so  capably  begun  by  Dr.  Harrison,  and  through  his  tireless 
efforts  great  progress  has  been  made  toward  the  educational  advance- 
ment of  the  county.  These  men  paved  the  way  for  the  present  wide- 
awake board  of  education,  and  we  are  greatly  indebted  to  them  for 
the  present  efficiency  of  our  school  system. 

Important  Personages 

It  is  impossible  to  give  here  a  complete  list  of  all  those  who  have 
been  the  builders  of  our  county,  and  prominent  in  its  history,  but  there 
are  a  few  predominant  facts  which  deserve  mention. 

"Halifax  has  furnished  more  governers,  five;  more  attorneys-gen- 
eral, six;  more  members  of  Congress,  fifteen;  more  brigadier-generals, 
six,  than  any  other  county  in  the  state.  In  addition,  it  has  furnished 
two  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina,  one  of  whom, 
Hon.  Walter  Clark,  is  still  in  office;  one  ambassador  to  France,  Wil- 
liam E.  Davie;  and  one  member  of  the  President's  Cabinet,  John 
Branch;  six  councillors  of  state;  and  five  judges  of  the  Superior 
Court." — Allen's  History  of  Halifax  County. 

We,  the  people  of  Halifax  county,  have  every  reason  to  be  proud 
of  our  heritage,  and  our  present  possessions  and  advantages,  but  we 
should  not  let  complacency  blind  us  to  our  deficiencies.  Let  us  examine 
our  faults  courageously,  locate  the  causes  clearly,  and  then  proceed  in 
no  uncertain  manner  to  make  our  civilization  wholesome,  prosperous, 
and  happy,  in  every  detail  of  community  life. 

WHERE    WE    LEAD 

The  figures  at  the  left  margin  indicate  the  number  of  counties  mak- 
ing a  better  showing. 

13th     in  size,  in  North  Carolina,  acres  432,640 

8th     in    population,    1910    37,646 

8th     in  amount  spent  on  rural  school  buildings  and  sup- 
plies   in    1918    $14,370.81 

8th     in   salaries   paid   white   teachers,    1917-18    $440.92 

State    average,    $323.      New    Hanover    first,    with 

$580.36. 
8th     in  density  of  rural  population,  1910,  per  sq.  mile  ....  55.7 

9th     in  state  support,  surplus  contributed  in  1918  $26,895 

This  sum  represents  what  Halifax  paid  into  the 
state  treasury  more  than  she  drew  out  of  it  in 
state  pensions  and  school  funds.  33  counties 
drew  state  bounties  instead. 


66  HALIFAX  COUNTY  :  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

22d     in  total  farm  wealth,  1910 $7,737,161 

3d     in  annual  farm  wealth  produced,  1910  $3,766,186 

9th     in   total   taxable   wealth,    1917    $19,030,046 

12th     in  state  income  taxes  paid  in   1917   $2,234 

19th     in   Third  Liberty  Loan   subscription.      Per   cent   of 

population   subscribing    3.78 

State  average,  3.4  per  cent. 
19th     in  tax  value  of  farm  lands,  compared  with  census 

value,  per   cent,   1910   54 

State   average,   38   per   cent. 
14th     in  increase  in  value  of  domestic  animals,  1900-1910, 

per  cent 144 

9th     in  number  of  farms 4,295 

14th     in  per  cent  of  total  land  area  under  cultivation  ....  42.8 

State  average,  29  per  cent. 
8th     in  cotton  production,  1919.  Number  of  bales  ginned 

up  to  April,   1920   27,862 

28th     in   tobacco   production,   1919,   pounds   4,101,680 

10th     in  marriage  rate  per  1,000  population,  15  years  old 

and    over,    1914    13.5 

9th     in  female  workers  in  mills,  1915  ..  902 


X 

OUE  PROBLEMS  AND  THEIR  SOLUTION 


SIDNEY    B.    ALLEN 

The  many  reasons  that  we  have  to  be  proud  of  Halifax  have  been 
pointed  out  and  discussed  in  the  preceding  chapter.  In  this  chapter 
it  is  my  purpose  to  gather  up  and  present  the  vital  defects  in  the 
economic  and  social  life  of  the  county,  and  further  to  try  to  interpret 
these  defects  and  needs  and  to  show  the  way  out,  and,  so  far  as  I  am 
able,  to  forecast  a  broader  and  better  community  life  for  Halifax. 

Our  rank  in  some  important  details  of  business  and  life  may  be 
a  source  of  surprise  to  some.  In  many  respects  Halifax  ranks  with 
the  leading  counties  of  the  state,  and  also  in  many  instances  she  is 
among  those  that  fall  to  the  bottom  of  the  list.  If  she  ranked  among 
the  first  few  in  every  item,  then  this  little  bulletin  would  be  useless, 
for  its  purpose  is  to  show  our  imperfections  and  faults,  as  well  as  our 
virtues, 

We  have  conditions  in  our  county  that  are  thwarting  our  devel- 
opment, retarding  our  progress,  and  hindering  the  people  of  our  county 
from  making  their  life  as  efficient,  prosperous,  and  wholesome  as  all 
of  us  would  like  it  to  be.  All  our  problems,  then,  are  not  solved;  nor 
can  they  be  solved  without  the  co-operation  of  our  business  men  and 
bankers,  our  farmers,  teachers  and  religious  leaders.  It  will  require 
the  federated  efforts  of  all  these  to  blot  out  our  delinquencies  and  to 
reach  high  levels  in  every  particular. 

It  is  an  easy  matter  to  show  the  instances  in  which  Halifax  county 
ranks  low,  but  to  tell  just  how  such  problems  may  be  improved  and 
solved  is  a  much  more  difficult  task.  Whenever  our  rank  is  found  to 
be  low  in  any  item,  there  we  have  a  problem.  It  is  hoped  that  the 
people  of  Halifax  will  earnestly  study  the  figures  at  the  close  of  the 
various  chapters  and  see  for  themselves  what  things  need  our  imme- 
diate, unselfish,  and  combined  effort. 

There  is  at  the  end  of  this  chapter  a  table  of  items  wThich  present 
themselves  as  unsolved  problems  in  Halifax  county.  The  following 
discussion  is  based  upon  these  facts. 

1.     An   Ill-Balanced   Farm   System 

The  1910  census  shows  that  we  have  a  per  capita  country  wealth 
in  farm  properties  in  Halifax  amounting  to  only  $205.  This  is,  as 
•can  readily  be  seen,  a  small  amount  and  our  rank  is  very  low.  There 
.are  82  counties  in  the  state  with  a  larger  per  capita  country  wealth. 


68  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

In  Alleghany  county  it  was  $560,  in  the  United  States  $994,  and  in 
Iowa  $3,386.  It  is  much  higher  in  Halifax  today,  but  also  it  is  pro- 
portionately higher  in  the  state  and  nation. 

Obviously,  our  farmers  are  poor.  The  average  farmer  has  not  the 
money  with  which  to  buy  improved  farm  implements  for  more  exten- 
sive agriculture  and  thereby  to  lower  the  cost  of  production  while 
greatly  increasing  the  volume  of  farm  products.  Lack  of  ready  cash 
capital  in  our  country  regions  is  a  cardinal  deficiency.  In  order  to 
have  good  roads,  good  schools,  good  churches,  and  fine  farms,  we  must 
have  money — far  more  money  than  we  have  had  in  our  rural  territories. 
What  is  the  reason  for  this  very  low  per  capita  country  wealth?  Our 
rank  in  total  farm  wealth  produced  year  by  year  is  high,  but  what  becomes 
of  all  this  enormous  wealth?  In  the  census  year  1910  we  sent  out  of 
the  county  more  than  $2,000,000  for  imported  food  and  feed  supplies 
which  could  have  been  produced  by  our  farmers  at  home.  This  drain 
on  our  money  resources  makes  us  all  just  so  much  the  poorer  year  by 
year — landlords,  merchants,  bankers,  and  farmers  alike.  This  fact 
suggests  a  solution.  For  sixty  years  we  have  been  enslaved  by  cotton 
and  tobacco  production  and  neglectful  of  food  crops  and  livestock. 
Each  year  our  farmers  produce  great  wealth  and  immediately  send  it 
away  to  pay  for  the  necessities  of  life  which  they  themselves  could  pro- 
duce far  more  cheaply.  It  is  a  crime  against  common  sense.  There 
are  no  soils  and  seasons  anywhere  in  the  United  States  better  suited 
to  food  and  feed  production  and  livestock  farming.  It  is  not  im- 
possible to  produce  the  staple  bread  and  meat  supplies  we  need  for 
home  consumption.  In  1910  the  wheat  crop  was  only  one-seventeenth 
of  a  bushel  per  inhabitant,  while  four  bushels  per  person  per  year  are 
needed.  In  1860  we  produced  36,000  bushels,  which  was  exactly  enough 
for  our  population  at  that  time.  Every  farmer  should  reserve  two  acres 
or  so  each  year  to  raise  enough  wheat  for  his  own  family,  if  no  more. 
Flour  at  $20.00  a  barrel  today  suggests  the  wisdom  of  a  return  to  the 
policy  of  our  forefathers. 

2.     Farm   Tenancy 

Over  sixty-four  per  cent  of  the  farmers  of  Halifax  are  tenants. 
Of  these  766  were  croppers  and  1,927  were  cash  or  standing  rent  tenants. 
The  landless,  homeless,  white  tenants  and  their  families  of  Halifax 
in  1910  numbered  three  thousand  souls.  The  economic  and  social  evils 
of  tenancy  have  been  discussed  in  a  previous  chapter. 

3.     Few  Local  Tax  Districts 

Seventy -one  counties  stood  ahead  of  Halifax  in  1918  in  the  per  cent 
of  school  districts  levying  local  taxes.  According  to  the  last  report 
of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  in  the  state,  1917-1918,  out 
of  the  110  districts,  white  and  colored,  only  eighteen  levied  a  special 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  69 

tax.  Our  country  school  districts  must  not  be  slow  to  tax  themselves 
for  the  support  of  good  rural  schools.  There  should  be  a  greater  num- 
ber of  rural  districts  levying  a  special  school  tax.  In  Dare  county 
every  school  district  is  a  local  tax  district.  Seventy  counties  reaped 
larger  revenues  from  school  district  taxes  for  country  schools  than 
Halifax.  The  amount  thus  raised  totaled  only  $3,440  at  that  time. 

4.     Poor  School  Attendance 

Our  rank  in  per  cent  of  school  attendance  on  enrollment  is  deplor- 
able. Only  one  county  in  the  whole  state  made  a  poorer  showing  in 
1915-16.  Our  rank  in  this  particular  was  99th.  These  figures  should 
stir  the  interest  of  everyone  who  has  at  heart  the  efficiency  and  wel 
fare  of  the  schools  in  the  county,  and  should  prompt  those  directly  con- 
cerned to  improve  the  school  attendance.  When  a  prominent,  progress- 
ive, and  wide-awake  county  like  Halifax  is  next  to  the  bottom  in  any 
matter  connected  with  schools — the  most  important  institutions  of  any 
county — it  is  time  for  our  people  to  insist  on  a  strict  enforcement  of 
the  compulsory  school  attendance  law.  Our  average  in  1915-16  was  53.9 
per  cent,  and  in  1917-18  it  was  53  per  cent.  From  the  tables  of  the 
State  Superintendent  for  1917-18  we  find  that  there  were  4,359  children 
of  school  age  who  wrere  not  even  enrolled  in  school.  This  poor  showing 
in  school  attendance  is  not  wrholly  ascribable  to  the  colored  children, 
for  in  examining  the  figures  in  the  above  report  it  was  seen  that  our 
white  population  contributed  its  full  part  in  pulling  down  the  average,. 

There  is  another  particular  in  which  our  schools  lag  behind,  namely,, 
in  the  number  and  ratio  of  weak  little  one-teacher  schools  Thirty  of 
our  41  white  country  schools  were  schools  of  this  sort.  Or  so  it  was-, 
in  1918,  when  the  last  published  report  was  given  to  the  public  by  the- 
State  School  Superintendent.  Since  that  time  several  consolidations 
have  been  made  in  our  country  schools,  and  these  schools  are  among 
the  best  in  the  state,  we  are  proud  to  say. 

In  1915-16  only  20  per  cent  of  our  rural  white  schools  had  two  or 
more  teachers,  and  our  rank  was  96th  in  the  state.  In  1917-18,  73  per 
cent  of  our  rural  white  schools  had  only  one  teacher,  while  only  11,  or 
27  ier  cent  of  these  schools,  had  two  or  more,  and  in  this  particular  we 
ranked  91st  in  the  state. 

The  one-teacher  school  is  a  listless,  lifeless  affair  and  the  fewer 
there  are  in  any  county  the  better.  We  sincerely  hope  that  the  people 
of  Halifax  will  rally  to  the  wisdom  of  the  consolidation  plans  that  are 
being  developed  by  our  fine  superintendent. 

5.     Illiteracy 

In  1910  8.6  per  cent  of  our  native  whites,  ten  years  old  and  over, 
were  illiterate.  They  could  neither  read  nor  write.  They  are  what 
we  call  sheer  illiterates.  In  this  particular  our  rank  is  20th  in  the 


70  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

state,  meaning  that  only  19  counties  made  a  better  showing.  Thus  we 
see  that  illiteracy  is  not  one  of  our  greatest  problems.  But  illiteracy 
is  an  insistent  problem,  and  though  we  find  ourselves  among  the  first 
tAventy  counties  in  the  state  in  the  matter  of  literacy,  we  may  well 
make  mention  of  this  fact  in  this  chapter.  Near-illiterates  are  even 
more  numerous  than  sheer-illiterates  in  this  and  all  other  counties  of 
the  state,  though  little  attention  is  given  them.  Moonlight  schools  and 
country  churches  have  a  wonderful  opportunity  here,  because  94  per 
cent  of  our  illiterates  are  in  the  country  and  85  per  cent  of  them  are 

20  years  old  and  over. 

Our  native  white  illiterate  voters  were  10.2  per  cent  of  the  total 
white  voters.  That  is,  one  out  of  every  ten  wrhite  men  in  the  county 

21  years    of    age    and    over    could    neither    read    his    ballot    nor    write 
his  name.     However,  only  seventeen  counties  of  the  state  had  a  smaller 
per    cent    in    the    census   year.      This    class,    also,    if    ever    reached    and 
served,   must   be   reached   and   served   through   the   country   schools   and 
churches.      The  churches   can  be  a  mighty  agency  for   reducing   illiter- 
acy in  the  South.     These  people  have  passed  the  age  where  they  can 
be  reached  by  public  schools.     They  must  be  reached  by  other  means,  or 
live  and  die  in  sheer  ignorance  of  the  big,  wide  world  in  which  they 
live.     Approaching  this  suspicious  and  superstitious  class  calls  for  real 
diplomacy.     Work  in  their  behalf  calls  for   deft,  delicate,   sympathetic 
approaches    and    plans.      They    do    not    like    to    be    reminded    of    their 
shortcomings. 

Halifax  ranks  fairly  well  in  church  membership.  Sixty-one  per 
cent  of  our  people  ten  years  old  and  over  wrere  on  the  rolls  of  our 
churches  in  1916;  forty -eight  counties  had  a  greater  per  cent  of  church 
membership.  However,  the  fact  that  11,680  of  our  people  in  1916 
belonged  to  no  church  whatsoever  calls  for  some  sane  thinking  by  our 
churches  of  every  name  and  faith. 

6.     Elbow   Room 

Fifty-seven  per  cent  of  the  acres  in  Halifax  county  are  idle;  that 
is,  they  are  not  in  use  for  farm  purposes.  There  were  247,700  idle 
acres  in  the  county  in  1910.  We  need  to  bring  into  productive  use  this 
enormous  area  of  waste  land.  Here  is  room  for  2,640  new  farm  families, 
allowing  them  75  acres  each  and  retaining  50,000  acres  for  wood-lot 
uses.  An  increase  of  fifty  per  cent  in  farm  population  and  a  safely- 
balanced  farm  system  by  small  home-owning  farmers  would  mean  better 
schools,  better  roads,  greater  prosperity,  better  business  for  the  trade 
centers  and  more  social  life  and  liveliness. 

7.     Livestock  A  Solution 

We  can  hardly  bring  these  247,700  idle  acres  into  productive  use 
by  planting  them  in  crops.  Why  not  let  livestock  solve  the  problem? 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  71 

We  have  a  climate  admirably  suited  to  livestock.  We  have  wonderful 
opportunities  in  Halifax  to  develop  livestock  farming  and  livestock  in- 
dustries, butter  factories,  condenseries  and  the  like.  Our  soils  are  well 
adapted  to  grasses  and  grains.  They  are  fertile  and  well  drained.  We 
need  some  one  who  is  thoroughly  familiar  with  dairying  to  organize 
the  farmers  into  a  co-operative  creamery  company  or  companies  such 
as  they  have  in  Catawba  and  other  counties.  This  company  could 
collect  and  market  milk,  butter,  eggs,  meat  and  even  vegetables  as  do 
similar  organizations  elsewhere.  These  products  could  be  delivered 
daily  in  nearby  towns  and  cities  where  there  is  an  organized  market. 

The  farms  in  Halifax  are  too  lightly  stocked.  We  do  not  have 
enough  animals  per  thousand  acres  and  what  animals  we  have  are,  as 
a  rule,  not  of  the  best  quality.  Especially  is  this  true  of  our  swine 
and  cattle.  The  1930  census  shows  that  we  are  77  per  cent  below  the 
level  of  even  a  lightly-stocked  farm  area;  that,  in  other  words,  our 
livestock  ought  to  be  quadrupled  in  number.  Our  shortage  in  live- 
stock appears  in  detail  elsewhere  in  this  bulletin.  We  must  grow  up  a 
generation  of  livestock  lovers  and  make  improved  farm  animals  the 
basis  of  farm  prosperity.  They  will  fertilize  our  soils  and  feed  our 
families,  leaving  cotton  and  tobacco  to  furnish  ready  cash  for  our 
pocket  books  and  bank  accounts.  It  takes  time  to  bring  about  changes 
in  farming  in  any  county,  but  there  is  no  need  for  delay  in  making  a 
beginning  of  the  right  sort.  The  world  is  clamoring  for  food  supplies 
at  high  prices,  and  Halifax  has  a  great  chance  to  furnish  her  share  of 
it  with  profit.  Prices  are  high  and  profits  are  well  assured.  The 
philosophy  laid  down  by  Henry  Grady  years  ago  should  be  followed  in 
Halifax  today.  He  said:  "When  every  farmer  in  the  South  shall  eat 
bread  from  his  own  fields  and  meat  from  his  own  pantries  and,  dis- 
turbed by  no  creditor  and  enslaved  by  no  debt,  shall  amid  his  teeming 
orchards  and  vineyards  and  dairies  and  barns  pitch  his  own  crops  in 
his  own  wisdom  and  grow  them  in  independence;  making  cotton  and 
tobacco  clean  surplus  crops  and  selling  these  in  his  own  time,  and  in 
his  chosen  market,  and  not  at  a  master's  bidding — getting  his  pay  in 
cash  and  not  in  a  receipted  mortgage  that  discharges  his  debt,  but 
does  not  restore  his  freedom — then  and  not  until  then  shall  be  the 
breaking  of  the  fullness  of  our  day !  ' ' 

Co-operative  Solution  of  Halifax  Problems 

None  of  the  problems  that  present  themselves  can  be  solved  by  the 
farmers  alone.  The  larger  interests  of  the  farmers,  bankers,  merchants 
and  teachers  lie  in  co-operation,  and  not  in  contest.  When  each  class 
is  working  with  all  its  might  and  main  for  its  own  selfish  ends  the 
benefit  derived  by  the  people  as  a  whole  will  be  less  than  if  they  were 
unselfish  servants  of  the  common  good. 


72  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

Farmers,  merchants,  bankers,  transporters,  and  manufacturers  are 
closely  knit  into  an  intricate  whole  of  business  interdependence.  They 
are  all  members  of  one  body  and  when  one  suffers  they  all  suffer  to- 
gether. 

The  farmer  alone  is  not  likely  to  bridge  the  gulf  between  pro- 
ducers and  consumers  of  farm  products.  He  cannot  solve  the  .problems 
of  rural  credit  or  rural  markets  alone.  He  must  have  the  help  of  the 
bankers,  the  supply-merchants,  and  the  transportation  companies. 

City  civilization  is  dependent  upon  farm  production.  The  business 
of  the  whole  country  is  determined  largely  by  farm  conditions.  Mar- 
ket prices  in  the  great  city  exchanges  change  as  news  of  good  or  bad 
conditions  come  in  from  the  different  farm  regions  of  the  world.  Last 
year  the  farmers  of  the  United  States  added  to  the  wealth  of  the  world 
over  25  billion .  dollars '  worth  of  newly-made  farm  wealth.  Poor  crops 
and  poor  conditions  in  the  fall  mean  sad  times  for  all  classes  of  people 
alike.  It  is  upon  the  farmers'  fields  and  forests  that  we  depend  pri- 
marily for  the  three  great  necessities  of  every-day  life — food,  clothing 
and  shelter.  The  farmers  supply  the  raw  materials  of  these  and  thereby 
furnish  for  manufacturers,  transporters,  bankers  and  merchants  their 
business,  their  business  opportunities,  and  the  bulk  of  their  fortunes. 
The  farmer  is  the  mainspring  of  the  industry  of  the  nation.  Over  half 
of  the  railway  business  of  the  country  consists  of  transporting  supplies 
to  farmers  and  the  products  of  the  farm  to  the  markets  of  the  world. 

Cities  are  dependent  upon  the  country  for  population,  the  renewal 
of  population,  for  business  and  business  genius,  for  civic  and  social 
conscience  and  for  spiritual  guidance.  The  great  majority  of  men  in 
authority  in  our  city  churches  were  born  and  bred  in  the  country;  and 
the  same  is  almost  as  true  of  our  successful,  influential  men  of  affairs, 
the  merchants,  bankers,  manufacturers,  and  professional  men.  Five- 
sixths  of  the  college  professors  and  six-sevenths  of  the  ministers  of  all 
denominations  were  born  and  reared  in  the  country.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  country  depends  on  the  cities  for  market  advantages  and  credit 
facilities.  They  are  highly  mutually  dependent.  Then  it  is  funda- 
mental for  Halifax  county  as  well  as  for  the  nation  that  the  country- 
side be  efficient  and  prosperous,  satisfying  and  wholesome. 

Mutual  Prosperity 

Everyone  knows  that  a  town  or  city  cannot  safely  grow  prosperous 
and  its  people  cannot  live  content  and  happy  if  the  countryside  is  neg- 
lected, deprived  and  distressed.  In  the  end  town  and  city  progress 
is  commensurate  with  the  prosperity  of  the  country  regions  roundabout. 
Many  towns  and  cities  of  the  nation  have  come  to  realize  this  and  are 
doing  their  utmost  to  promote  efficiency  and  prosperity  in  their  sur- 
rounding trade  territories.  They  are  aware  that  their  welfare  depends 
largely  upon  the  welfare  of  the  nearby  countryside ;  that  the  better 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  73 

the  condition  of  the  farmers  in  their  trade  territories,  the  richer  the 
cities  and  towns  will  be.  The  city  dwellers  must  help  the  farmers  solve 
the  problems  of  markets  for  home-raised  food  and  feed  supplies.  The 
farmers  will  raise  such  supplies  in  abundance  only  when  they  can  convert 
them  into  instant,  ready  cash  at  a  fair  price  and  profit;  and  not 
otherwise. 

The  evils  of  the  supply-merchant,  time-credit  system  of  farming  have 
already  been  noted  in  another  chapter,  and  it  is  fully  recognized  that 
under  this  system  the  tenants  and  small  farmers  are  powerless.  They 
have  not  raised  food  supplies  sufficient  for  home  consumption,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  they  have  not  cared  to  do  it  or  have  not  been  allowed 
to  do  it.  They  failed  of  doing  it  in  Halifax  in  1910  by  two  million  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  This  is  the  amount  that  the  farmers  them- 
selves sejit  out  of  the  county  in  cash  for  farm  supplies.  This  exodus 
of  money  from  our  county  left  our  traders,  tenants,  landowners  and 
bankers  just  so  much  poorer.  If  this  gigantic  sum  could  be  retained  in 
Halifax  by  a  bread-and-meat  system  of  farming  the  total  wealth  of 
the  county  would  be  doubled  in  a  few  years,  and  we  should  go  forward 
with  remarkable  strides.  It  can  be  done. 

The  bankers  of  Halifax  can  do  more  in  a  single  year  to  promote 
a  bread-and-meat,  live-at-home  system  of  farming  in  Halifax  than  our 
gospel  of  diversified  agriculture  is  likely  to  do  in  a  lifetime.  The  Texas 
bankers  have  solved  the  problem.  They  saw  the  folly  of  allowing  217 
millions  of  dollars  to  leave  the  state  annually  for  food  and  feed  supplies 
that  could  be  produced  at  home.  Accordingly,  they  boldly  adopted 
the  policy  of  refusing  loans  to  supply-merchants  on  crop-liens  protected 
by  cotton  acreage  alone.  Before  they  will  discount  a  crop-lien  paper  it 
must  embody  a  detailed  written  agreement  by  the  farmer  to  plant  a 
certain  part  of  his  acreage,  usually  a  half,  in  specified  food  and  feed 
crops.  And  now  the  state  is  richer  by  217  million  dollars  or  more  a 
year,  because  the  bankers  have  stepped  forward  and  taken  this  funda- 
mental' step  in  wealth  retention.  What  they  did  is  simply  this:  they 
forced  the  supply-merchant  to  force  the  farmers  to  become  self -feeding. 
And  self -feeding  farmers  are  self -financing,  and  a  self -financing  agri- 
culture spells  prosperity  for  farmers,  -merchants,  and  bankers  alike. 

The  Future  of  Halifax  County 

To  the  best  of  our  limited  ability  we  have  endeavored  to  spy  out 
the  fundamental  deficiencies  of  life  and  business  in  our  home  county, 
and  now  we  indulge  ourselves  in  visions  of  its  future,  when  hindering 
causes  have  disappeared  and  constructive  ideals  and  policies  are  freely 
employed  to  lift  the  level  of  Halifax. 

First,  a  foundational  ideal  is  home  and  farm  ownership  by  farmers; 
a  civilization  based  on  the  home-owning,  home-loving,  home-defending 
instinct.  It  means  better  rural  conditions — better  roads,  better"  schools, 


74  HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL 

better  supported  churches,  better  homes,  more  home  comforts  and  con- 
veniences, greater  attention  to  sanitation  and  health,  more  of  law  and 
order,  and  better  community  life  in  general.  We  look  forward  to  the 
day  when  every  farmer  in  Halifax  can  stand  on  his  own  doorstep  and 
survey  his  own  domain,  sit  by  his  own  fireside,  eat  his  own  bread  and 
meat,  work  his  own  stock,  and  use  his  own  machinery  on  his  own  land. 

The  rural  schools  are  the  life  of  the  rural  community.  During 
the  last  two  years  Halifax  has  accomplished  wonderful  things  in  rural 
school  progress.  The  consolidated  schools  at  Koseneath  and  Dawson 
are  examples  of  it.  We  long  to  see  the  time  when  we  shall  have  twelve 
or  fourteen  large,  well-equipped  consolidated  rural  schools,  where  country 
children  can  have  advantages  equal  to  those  .of  city  children ;  when  every 
country  child  can  be  carried  to  school  in  a  comfortable,  closed-in  con- 
veyance, like  those  now  in  use  in  some  school  districts  of  the  county. 
At  present  there  are  eleven  Ford  and  Oldsmobile  trucks  used  for  carry- 
ing children  to  school  in  Halifax.  There  are  few  counties  in  the  state 
with  a  larger  number  than  this.  These  trucks  have  been  bought  in 
the  last  few  years.  Such  transportation  facilities  mean  better  attend- 
ance and  less  sickness  caused  by  exposure  in  tramping  through  the  mud 
in  bad  weather.  With  such  progress  already  made,  we  think  of  the  fu- 
ture with  buoyant  hope.  We  wish  to  see  Halifax  on  the  map  as  the 
county  that  leads  all  the  rest  in  educational  accomplishments. 

To  .create  the  very  best  living  conditions  in  Halifax  county  is  the 
task  of  all  good  citizens.  Many  have  already  set  themselves  to  this 
task,  and  it  is  the  hope  of  the  writers  of  this  little  booklet  that  others 
will  catch  the  vision,  develop  the  spirit  of  hearty  co-operation,  and  fall 
in  line  to  make  our  county  the  foremost  county  in  the  state  or  nation. 

That  she  may  continue  to  lead  where  she  now  leads  and  that  she  may 
become  a  leader  where  she  now  lags  is  the  hope  and  prayer  of  the 
authors  of  this  little  county  bulletin. 

WHERE  WE  LAG 

Bank  indicates  the  number  of  counties  that  make  a  better  showing. 

83d     in  per  capita  country  wealth,   1910   $205 

State  average  $322;  U.  S.  $996;  Iowa  $3,386. 
73d     in  negro  farm  owners  in  1910,  per  cent  of  all  negro 

farmers  26 

State  average  33  per  cent. 

53d     in  white  farm  mortgages  in  1910,  per  cent  19 

State  average  for  whites  17  per  cent. 

71st     in  death   rate   per   thousand   population,    1917    14.7 

66th     in  wheat  production  per  inhabitant  in  1910,  bushels  0.06 

Needed  four  bushels  per  person  per  year.  De- 
ficit per  person  3.94.  Total  deficit  148,053 
bushels. 


HALIFAX  COUNTY:  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  75 

82d     in  corn  produced  per  inhabitant  in  1910,  bushels  ... .  11 

Needed   per   person    31   bushels   per   year    for   man 

and  beast.     Deficit  per  person  20  bushels. 

66th     in  oats   production,  total   crop   in   1910,  bushels   ....  8,794 

86th     in  beef  production  per  inhabitant  in   1910,  pounds  12 

State  average  33.8  pounds 

71st     in  pork  production  per  inhabitant  in  1910,  pounds  58.7 

State  average   93.3   pounds. 

77th     in  poultry  production  per  inhabitant  in  1910,  fowls  4.84 

Needed    13    per    person    per    year.      Total    deficit 

308,355. 
81st     in  increase  in  farm  sales  of  dairy  products  in  1910, 

per    cent    45 

Halifax  produced  three  pounds  of  butter  per  person. 
The  average  amount  needed  is  48  pounds  per 
person.  Deficit  45  pounds  per  person. 

96th     in  livestock  products  per  inhabitant  in   1910   $8.00 

State   average    $17. 

84th     in  bill  for  imported  food  and  feed  supplies  in  1910        $2,200,000 
72d     in  local  school  tax  districts,  1917-1918,  per  cent  ....  16.3 

Out  of  110  districts,  white  and  colored,  only  eigh- 
teen levied  a  special  tax. 
71st  in  total  revenue  from   country   school   district  taxes, 

1917-1918     : $3,440.41 

96th     in    rural    schools    having    two    or    more    'teachers, 

1915-1916,    per    cent    20 

In  1917-18,  73  per  cent  of  the  rural  schools  had 
only  one  teacher;  26.9  per  cent  had  two  or  more 
teachers,  and  we  ranked  91st  in  the  state.  Out 
of  41  rural  white  schools  30  were  one-teacher 
schools  in  1918. 
99th  in  school  attendance  on  enrollment,  1915-1916,  per 

cent    53.9 

State  average  68.8  per  cent.  The  average  in  1917- 
1918  was  53  per  cent.  4,359  children  of  school 
age  were  not  even  enrolled  in  school. 


NOTICE!!! 

The  business  men  of  the  county  who  have  made  this  booklet  possible 
by  their  advertisements  have  shown  themselves  to  be  wide-awake  and 
vitally  interested  in  the  county  and  its  welfare.  They  are  doing  all 
they  can  to  make  our  county  even  better  than  it  is,  and  they  deserve 
your  patronage.  We  recommend  them  to  you.  Patronize  them. 


Planters  &  Commercial 
Bank 


This  bank  has  paid  to  stockholders  over  $10,000.00 

in  dividends,  and  has  paid  to  depositors 

over    $10,000.00   interest  on 

Savings  Accounts 


We  handle  both  checking  and  Savings 
Accounts  and  allow 

4%  Interest 

In  Savings  Department 


We  appreciate  your   banking  business,    and    will 
make  every  effort  to  handle  your  busi- 
ness in  a   satisfactory    manner 


Planters  &  Commercial  Bank 

"The    Home    For    Savings" 

Scotland  Neck,  N.  C. 


Claude  Kitchin,  President 


O.  J.  Moore,  Cashier 


BEWARE! 


When  Friend  Ford  needs  a  repair  part,  be  sure 
that  you  get  the  Genuine  Ford  Part.  There  are  lots 
of  "imitation"  or  "bogus"  parts  offered  the  public. 
These  spurious  parts  are  handled  mostly  by  hard- 
ware stores  and  unscrupulous  garages.  Look  for 
the  word  Ford  in  script  stamped  on  every  piece  of 
Genuine  Ford  Repair  Material.  Ask  your  repair 
man  if  he  does  not  recommend  Genuine  Ford  Parts. 

* 

If  your  Ford  Motor  needs  overhauling,  give  us  a 
trial.  We  have  a  high  priced  Burning-in  Machine 
and  can  make  your  old  Motor  run  like  new.  Our 
mechanics  are  Ford  graduates. 


WELDON  MOTOR  CO. 

Authorized  Dealers 
Ford  Cars        -        Ford  Parts      -       Fordson  Tractors 


PHONE  235 

DIXON  LUMBER  &  MILLWORK  COMPANY 

WELD3N,  NORTH  CAROLINA 
Everything  to  Build  a  House 

Millwork,  Dressed  Lumber  and  Mouldings.      Flooring, 
Ceiling,  Siding,  Shingles  and  Laths 

BUILDING  MATERIALS 

FOR 

ALL  KINDS  OF  BUILDINGS 


SASH,  DOORS,  MANTELS,  STAIR  MATERIAL 
AND  PORCH  COLUMNS 

INTERIOR  FINISH  FOR  RESIDENCES 


Good  Material  and  High  Grade  Workmanship 

OUR  SLOGAN 

Fair  Dealing  With  Our  Customers 

OUR  POLICY 

A  PROOF  OF  SATISFIED  PATRONS 

ESTABLISHED  1912  STILL  GROWING  1920 

Increase  in  Sales  19/9  over  1912      -      $161,886.95 
Total  Sales  for  Eight  Years     -     -     -     $688,610.41 

QUALITY  WORK  AND  SERVICE  ALWAYS  COUNTS 
WRITE,  PHONE  OR  COME  TO  SEE  US 

DIXON  LUMBER  &  MILLWORK  COMPANY 

WELDON,  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Atlantic  Coast  Realty  Co. 


It  Has  Been  Our  Pleasure 

to  serve  many  of  the  good  people  of  HALIFAX 
COUNTY  in  the  sale  of  their  lands. 


Our  sales  in  this  County  in  1919  amounted  to 
$573,207.17.  We  believe  this  is  evidence  of  su- 
perior service  backed  by  the  confidence  of  the 
people. 

We  Want  Every  Man 

in  Halifax  County  to  know  and  use  our  Modern 
Auction  Methods. 

Write  us  Today  to  Petersburg,  Va.,  or  get  in 
touch  with  our  Local  Contract  Representatives. 


Atlantic  Coast  Realty  Co. 

THE  NAME  THAT  JUSTIFIES  YOUR  CONFIDENCE 
PETERSBURG,  VA.  GREENVILLE,  N.  C. 


Local  Contract  Representatives 

HALIFAX  COUNTY  REAL  ESTATE  AND 
INSURANCE  CO. 

SCOTLAND  NECK,  N.  C. 

S.  A.  DUNN,  President  NORFLEET  SMITH,  Manager 


Roanoke  Fibre  Board  Company 

OF 
ROANOKE  RAPIDS,  N.  C. 

Manufacturers  of  Container  Board,  Fibre  Board 
and  Chip. 

A.  F.  CARYFORD,  President  C.   A.  LAMBIE,  Sec.-Treas. 

F.  M.  BROWN,  Manager 

Roanoke  Fibre  Board  Company 


The  Automotive  Company 


SUPER, 


Standard  Eight 


Parts  and  Accessories 

Telephone         -         -         -         307 

The  Automotive  Company 

Weldon,  N.  C. 


R.  C.  JOSEY  &  CO. 

SCOTLAND  NECK,  N.   C. 
General  Merchants 


LADIES'  AND  GENTS'   FURNISHINGS 
RALSTON  SHOES  FOR  MEN 


R.  C.  JOSEY  &  CO. 

SCOTLAND  NECK,  N.   C. 


Insurance  Loans  Real  Estate 

National  Loan  and  Insurance  Co. 

(INCORPORATED) 

ROANOKE  RAPIDS,  N.   C. 


Real  Estate  Bought  and  Sold  on  Commission 

Short  and  Long  Term  Loans 

Negotiated 

General  Insurance  Agents  and  Brokers 

National  Loan  and  Insurance  Co. 


J.  O.  APPLEWHITE,  President  ].  C.  GOLD,  Vice -President 

BANK  of  TILLERY 

(Incorporated  April  20,  1920) 

Authorized    Capital $50,000.00 

Subscribed   Capital $14,400.00 

Building  now  under   way,   will  be  open   for  business 

October   1,    1920.      Four   per   cent  paid   on  time 

deposits.     Any  and  all  business  entrusted  in 

our  care  will  be  highly  appreciated 


DIRECTORS 


J.  O.  APPLEWHITE 
J.  C.  GOLD 
JOHN  H.  POPE 
G.  C.  HOWELL 


J.  B.  BASS 

C.  W.  GREGORY 

E.  P.  APPLEWHITE 

D.  H.  MARTIN 


J.  E.  PARKS 


C.  W.  GREGORY 
COMPANY 

SUCCESSORS  TO 
P.  C.  &  C.  W.  GREGORY  CO. 

DEALERS  IN 

DRY  GOODS,  NOTIONS,  HEAVY 
AND  FANCY  GROCERIES 

Hardware  and  Farming  Implements 
Buyers  of  Cotton  and  Peanuts 

TILLERY,  N.  C. 


NEW  YORK 

LIFE  INSURANCE 

COMPANY 


LARGEST,  STRONGEST,  BEST 


LEWIS  B.  SUITER 

SPECIAL  REPRESENTATIVE 
SCOTLAND  NECK,  N.  C.  PHONE  214 


There  Is  ^4  Reason 


Sometime  people  do  things  and  cannot  explain  why,  but  this  should 
never  happen  for  every  one  should  have  a  good  logical  reason  for  his  or  her 
acts.  All  of  our  customers  have  reason  sufficient  for  trading  at  our  up- 
to-date  SANITARY  GROCERY  STORE,  equipped  with  COLD  STORAGE 
MARKET.  We  carry  everything  to  be  found  in  a  first  class  fancy  Gro- 
cery, and  in  an  up-to-date  market,  so  there  is  no  very  good  reason  why  we 
should  not  get  the  patronage.  A  trial  is  sufficient  to  convince  you. 

Allsbrook  &  Kitchin 

Scotland  Neck,  N.  C. 


The  Only  Office  Outfitters  in  Halifax  County 

We  Feature 
G-F  Allsteel  Fire  Proof  Safe-Cabinets 

Filing  Devices  and  Desks 

Wilson-Jones  Loose-Leaf  Forms  and  Devices 

Dennison's  Tags  and  Specialties 

Cutler  Desks,  and  many  other 

Guarantee  Lines. 

Herald  Publishing  Company,  Inc., 

Roanoke  Rapids,  N.  C. 
"/fit's  Usedinan  Office   We   Can  Supply  It" . 


HARRISON  &  THOMAS 

Clothiers  Hatters  Haberdashers 


ROANOKE  RAPIDS,  N.  C. 

The  only  exclusive  Men's  and  Boys'   store  in  Halifax 

County. 

"The  Kuppenheimer  House  of  Roanoke  Rapids." 


E.  T.  WHITEHEAD  CO. 

SCOTLAND  NECK,  N.  C. 

For  Thirty  Years  the  Leading  Drug 
and  Jewelry  Store  in  Halifax  County 

We  Solicit  Your  Patronage 

E.  T.  WHITEHEAD  CO. 


ESTABLISHED 1898 

IVEY  WATSON,  President  W.  R.  GARNETT,  Ca.hier 

DR.  A.  S.  HARRISON.  V.-Pres.  H.  C.  DURHAM,  A«t.  Cashier 

BANK  OF  ENFIELD 

ENFIELD,  N.  C. 

Capital  Stock $10,000.00 

Surplus  $  1 00,000.00 

WE  SOLICIT  YOUR  BANKING  BUSINESS 
4%  Interest  Paid  in  Savings  Department 


CLEMENT'S  WAREHOUSE 

W.  T.  CLEMENT,  Prop. 
ENFIELD,  N.  C. 

Sell  your  tobacco  with  a  man  of  experience  and 

with  one  who  knows  how  to  get  you 

the  highest  prices 

CLEMENT'S  WAREHOUSE 


W e  Appreciate  Your  Business,  Large  or  Small 
When  in  Weldon  Qwe  Us  a  Trial 

Agents  for 

Chase  and  Sanborn's  Teas  and  Coffees 

The  Paragon  Grocery  Co. 

IVeldon,  N.  C 

221  -  -  -          Telephones  -  -  -  222 


J.  S.  TURNER 

COAL 
SHINGLES  LATHS 


Agents  for 

Cortright  Metcl  Shingles 
WELDON,  N.  C. 


Everything  in  Furniture 

Dixie  Furniture  Company 

Scotland  Neck,  N.  C. 

Cash  if  You  Have  It         -          Credit  if  You  Want  It 


PATTERSON  MILLS  COMPANY,  INC. 

ROSEMARY,  N.  C. 

Manufacturers  of  Fancy  Ginghams  and  Flannels 


WE  OFFER  TO  OUR  OPERATIVES: 

A  plant  and  village  of  the  most  modern  construction 
and  the  very  best  sanitary  condition. 

Free  medical  services. 

A  school  system  of  the  highest  standard. 

High  wages. 


Our  policy  is  to  contribute  as  much  as  we  can  to  the 
welfare  of  the  community  and  to  the  advancement  and 
progress  of  Halifax  County. 


PATTERSON  MILLS  COMPANY,  INC. 

ROSEMARY,  N.  C. 

J.  A.  MOORE,  Pr«.  T.  C.  WILLIAMS,  V-Pres.  A.  I.  TAYLOR,  Sec. 


Insurance  of  All  Kinds 


We  represent  some  of  the  largest  and  oldest  companies, 

giving  you  the  most  liberal  policies  and  100 

per  cent  PROTECTION 


Insurance  Department 
Citizens  Bank  &  Trust  Company 

Rosemary,  N.  C. 


Phone  187. 


Scotland  Neck,  N.  C. 


INSURANCE 


We  represent  the  largest  and  best  companies  for  Life,  Fire,  Tornado, 
Live  Stock,  Casualty,  Auto,  Hail  and  Wind  Storm  Insurance.  Service  is 
our  Motto.  Try  Us. 

ALEXANDER  ASSURANCE  AGENCY 

C.  S.  Alexander,  Manager 


Phone  187. 


Scotland  Neck,  N.  C. 


We  solicit  your  contracts  for   Plumbing   and   Heating.         We  guarantee 
our  work  and  our  material  is  the  best  that  can  be  had.         Call  on  us. 


CRESCENT  PLUMBING  CO. 


HANCOCK-JACKSON  CO. 

Family  Outfitters 

A  Complete  Line  of  Dry  Goods,  Notions,  Shoes, 
Mens',  Ladies'  and  Boys'  Ready-to- Wear 

Heavy  and  Fancy  Groceries 

Telephone  507 


HART  SHAFFNER  &  MARX  CLOTHES         MALLORY  HATS 
W.  L.  DOUGLAS  SHOES  INTERWOVEN  HOSE 

FARBER  &  JOSEPHSON 

MEN'S  AND  BOYS'  OUTFITTERS 
WELDON,  N.'C 


TAYLOR-MATTHEWS  CO.,  Inc. 

VRUGGISTS 

AGENTS  FOR 
Tiffin  and  Blocks '  Candies 

ROANOKE  RAPIDS,  N.  C. 
PHONE 555 


Jewelry  and  Jeweler's  Supplies  of  all  Kinds 

W.  M.  POWELL 

SCOTLAND  NECK,  N.  C. 
Watches,  Clocks  and  Jewelry  Repaired 


LIFE,  FIRE,  HEALTH  AND  ACCIDENT 

Insurance 

CLAUDE  A.  PARAMORE 

SCOTLAND  NECK,  N.  C. 


We  Sell  Automobiles  of  Class  and 
Distinction 


ROANOKE  MOTOR  CAR  CO. 

SCOTLAND  NECK,  N.  C. 


Bring  Your  Car  to  Us  for  Repair 


L.  J.  Moore  &  Company 

Weldon,  N.  C. 


Store  of  Quality  and  Service 

Fancy  Groceries 

We  Lead  the  Leaders 


General  Merchandise  and  Farmers  Supplies 

EDWARDS  &  COMPANY,  Inc. 

SCOTLAND  NECK,  N.  C. 

Peanut  and  Cotton  Buyers 


THE 

BANK  OF  WELDON 

Established  1892 

Capital  and  Surplus      -     -      $65,000.00 

We  Invite  Your  Account 
4%  paid  in  Savings  Department 

W.  E.  DANIEL,  Pres.  W.  R.  SMITH,  Vice-Pres.  L.  C.  DRAPER.  Cashier 


M.  Hoffman  &  Brother 

Fertilizer  and  Cotton  Brokers 
Scotland  Neck,  N.  C 


The  Weldon  Livestock  Co, 

Dealers  in  Horses  and  Mules 
Sales  and  Exchange 

Weldon,  N.  C. 


The  Braswell  Furniture  Co. 

Rosemary,  N.  C. 

Your  Patronage  Highly  Appreciated 

and 
Satisfaction  Quaranteed 

With  Every  Purchase 


N.  L.  STEADMAN,  Pres.  F.  H.  GREGORY,  Cashier 

BANK  OF  HALIFAX 

Capital  and  Surplus  $3O,OOO 

Resources  .  $3OO,OOO 

Halifax,  N.  C. 


DUNCAN'S,  Inc. 

A  growing  store  with  a  growing  reputation  for  carrying 
Distinctive  Ready-to-wear  for  women. 

Roanoke  Rapids,  N.  C. 


THE  LEADER- 

THE  STORE  THAT  SERVES 

This  is  a  store  of  power — a  store  of  courtesy — a  store  of  complete- 
ness— a  store  of  reliability — but,  above  all,  it  is  a  store  of  service. 

People  who  appreciate  the  value  of  economizing  without  the  sac- 
rifice of  quality  find  that  we  best  fill  their  requirements. 
IT  PAYS  TO  DEAL  AT 


WELDON,  N.  C. 


NOTICE 

BUGGIES       HARNESS      WAGONS 

We  carry  a  full  supply  of  the  well-known  wag- 
ons, the  Hackney  and  the  Chase  City,  at  Rich 
Square,  N.  C,  and  a  quantity  of  Oxford  and  Knight 
Buggies  at  Weldon,  N.  C.  Each  of  these  makes 
is  noted  for  its  comfort  and  durability. 

We  also  carry  a  full  line  of  horses  and  mules  at 
both  Weldon  and  Rich  Square  during  the  winter 
and  spring  seasons. 

Thanks  for  past  favors. 

HOLOMAN  BROTHERS 

RICH  SQUARE     ::::::::     WELDON 


Roanoke  Pharmacy  Co, 

The  Rexall  Store 

Prescriptions,  Drugs,  and  Toilet  Requisites. 

Paints,  Oils  and  Varnishes. 

Kodaks  and  Supplies. 

Samoset  and  Norris  Chocolates. 

Symphony  Lawn  and  other  fine  stationery. 

Conklin  and  Parker  Pens. 

We  cordially  invite  you  to  our  store 

ROANOKE  RAPIDS,  N.  C. 


The 


University  of  North  Carolina 

Maximum  Service  to  the  People 
of  the  State 


REGULAR  INSTRUCTION  for  students  in  Accounting,  Foreign 
Trade,  Banking,  Transportation,  Political  Economy,  Business  Law, 
Electrical  Engineering,  Chemical  Engineering,  Highway  Engineering, 
Soil  Investigation,  Journalism,  Social  Science,  Government,  Education, 
Music,  and  all  subjects  embraced  in  the  College  of  Liberal  Arts,  the 
Schools  of  Applied  Science,  Law,  Medicine,  Pharmacy,  Commerce, 
and  the  Graduate  School. 

SPECIAL  INSTRUCTION  for  teachers  and  those  preparing  to 
teach  in  subjects  offered  by  the  School  of  Education  and  the  Summer 
School. 

MILITARY  INSTRUCTION  under  the  direction  of  the  Faculty 
and  the  United  States  War  Department  for  students  in  a  regular 
Reserve  Officers'  Training  Corps. 

GENERAL  INSTRUCTION  for  the  public  through  the  follow- 
ing departments  of  the  Bureau  of  Extension:  (1)  General  Informa- 
tion; (2)  Lectures  and  Study  Centers;  (3)  Home  Study  Courses; 
(4)  Debate  and  Declamation;  (5)  County  Economic  and  Social  Sur- 
veys; (6)  Municipal  Reference;  (7)  Educational  Information  and 
Assistance;  (8)  Women's  Club  Activities;  (9)  Home  Comforts  and 
Conveniences. 

WRITE  to  the  University  when  you  need  help. 


For  further  information,  address 

The  President  of  the  University 
Chapel  Hill,  N.  C. 


THE  ROSEMARY  MANUFACTURING  CO. 


OF 
ROANOKE  RAPIDS,  N.  C. 


Largest  Manufacturer  of  Cotton  Damask  in  the 
United  States. 

Situated  in  one  of  the  best  Towns  of   North 
Carolina. 

Living  conditions   in  the   Community  excelled 
nowhere. 


S.  F.  PATTERSON,  Pres.  &  Gen.  Mgr.        W.  L  LONG,  Vice-Pres. 
E.  W.  LEHMAN,  Sec.-Treas. 


THE  BANK  OF  HOBGOOD 

Offers  to  you  safety  and  service. 

We  solicit  your  patronage  and  pay  4  per  cent  on 
time  deposits. 

THE  BANK  OF  HOBGOOD 

HOBGOOD,  N.  C. 


BOUNDS  MOTOR  COMPANY 

WELDON,  N.  C. 


Distributors: 

Service  Motor  Trucks, 
Sayers  Six  Automobile, 
Case  Tractors. 


TIRES          -  -  ACCESSORIES 


THE 

FIRST  NATIONAL  BANK 

OF 

Roanoke  Rapids,  N.  C. 


Largest  Capitalized  and  Only  National  Banking 
Institution  in  Halifax  County 


Member  Federal  Reserve  System 


We  invite  the  patronage  of  those  who  prefer 
the  additional  safety  offered  by  a  strong  banking 
institution  conservatively  managed. 


H.  F.  BONNEY,  President  and  Cashier  M.  NELSON,  Vice-President 

J.  M.  MOHORN,  Assistant  Cashier 

THE  BANK  OF  LITTLETON 

LITTLETON,  N.  C. 


A  good  bank  in  a  good  town 
an     With  Us 


HOWARD  JOBBING  COMPANY 

WELDON,  N.  C. 
WHOLESALE  GROCERS 


ROSEMARY  DRUG  COMPANY 

ROSEMARY,  N.  C. 

| 

THE  STORE  YOUR  DOCTOR 
RECOMMENDS 


Quality    Store 


THE  ROANOKE  MILLS  COMPANY 

OF 

ROANOKE  RAPIDS,  N.  C. 


Cotton  Flannels  and  Outing  Cloths 

Situated  in  one  of  the  most  progressive  towns  of 
North  Carolina. 

It  offers  unexcelled  living  conditions  to  its  em- 
ployees. 

Schools,  Churches,  Hospital  and  Housing  Fa- 
cilities unexcelled  in  any  industrial  community  in 
the  South. 


W.  S.  PARKER,  President  W.  L.  LONG,  Vice-President 

S.  F.  PATTERSON,  Treas.  &  Gen.  Mgr.  J.  M.  JACKSON,  Sec. 


THE  ROANOKE  MILLS  COMPANY 


HALIFAX  PAPER  CORPORATION 

OF 

ROANOKE  RAPIDS,  N.  C. 


Manufacturers  of  Kraft  Paper 

from 
North  Carolina  Pine 


DR.  JOB  TAYLOR,  Pres.  &  Gen.  Mgr.  L.  M.  WILLIAMS,  V.-Pres. 

S.  J.  BOUNDS,  Treasurer 


HALIFAX  PAPER  CORPORATION 


VAUGHN 


Real  Estate 


OWEN  MOORE        ASHBY  DUNN 


Scotland  Neck,  N.  C. 


Visit  Us  When  You  Can-n 

f  lOll  VO  ft  llvll  1.  Vil  VU.I1 

At  Other  Times 

Bank    by    Mail 

The  number  of  those  who  are  using 
our  banking-by-mail  service  is 
constantly  increasing. 

Of  course,  some  make  use  of  this 
service  to  a  greater  extent  than  others. 
It  has  proved  especially  helpful  to  those  who 
find  it  inconvenient  to  visit  us  during  the 
business  day. 

We  have  developed  this  special  service  to 
a  point  where  both  deposits  and  withdrawals 
can  be  made  with  equal  facility. 

Come  in  and  ask,  or  write  us,  about  our 
banking-by-mail  service. 

Rosemary  Banking  &  Trust 
Company. 

Rosemary,  North  Carolina 

"No  Account   Too  Large 

To  Handle,  No  Account 

Too  Small  To  Serve.' 


Besides  figures  stands  another  quantity  unseen 
and  incalculable,  yet  as  far-reaching  as  the  ma- 
terial item.  It's  the  good-will  of  our  customers  ;  their 
loyalty,  their  support  and  faith  —  born  of  daily  com- 
mercial contact;  founded  in  co-operation,  in  cour- 
tesy, in  safety  and  in  service. 

Business  capacity  must  be  measured  in  money; 
but  making  friends  out  of  customers  gauges  true 
success. 


Oar  Bank  Your  Headquarters 

TOTAL  RESOURCES  OVER  $185,000.00 
Ycyirs  for  a  Greater  and  Better  County 

Citizens  Bank  &  Trust  Co. 

Rosemary,  N.  C. 

Opened  for  Business  July  1,  1919. 

Jno.  L.  Patterson,  Pres.       J.  A.  Moore,  V-Pres.       F.  L.  Nash,  Cashier. 


Do  You  Bank  By  Mail? 


There  are  many  of  our  customers  whom  we 
rarely  ever  see.  Some  of  them  we  never  have  seen. 

These  customers  make  frequent  deposits,  but 
send  them  by  mail.  They  may  live  many,  many  miles 
from  Wejdon,  but  Uncle  Sam's  postal  service  makes 
it  convenient  for  them  to  bank  with  us. 

We  promptly  acknowledge  receipt  of  all  deposits 
received  by  mail,  and  render  periodical  statements, 
thus  enabling  depositors  to  keep  close  check  on 
their  accounts. 

If  it  is  not  convenient  for  you  to  call  on  us 
regularly,  why  not  try  banking-by-mail  ?  You  will 
be  pleased  with  our  service. 


THE  WELDON  BANK  &  TRUST  CO. 

Weldon,  N.  C. 

Capital  $25,000.00  Surplus  and  Profits  $50,000.00 


Dinuer 
Gay  lord  Bros. 

Makers 
Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

PAT.  JAN  21,  1908 


556!*85 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


